Emma Willard School Center for Performing Arts

The Alice Dodge Wallace Center for the Performing Arts is a new unified locus for performance and performing arts education at Emma Willard School. The project transformed an existing chapel of architectural significance into a modern performance hall for music, dance, and theatre. It also added a new, mostly subterranean wing of performing arts education spaces, including dance and music rehearsal studios and a black box theatre.

The new Klingenstein Concert Hall is a profound transformation of the former Alumnae Chapel into a modern venue with remarkable acoustics. The original floor was removed to capture basement volume and create a newly grand and very tall space. This created an acoustical challenge and opportunity: How to take advantage of this height and volume while ensuring clarity and impact of the sounds of student performers, both for audiences and for the performers themselves?

The answers came in the form of a handsome array of suspended reflector panels over the stage and audience, sloped seating benches, and their fabric-covered cushions. These features work with the tall and narrow geometry and angled roof surfaces to create a sound that is both intimate and grand, clear and reverberant.

The space is heated and cooled by equipment located beneath the seating slope, with ductwork under the floor and above the stage. Through meticulous design and coordination, the system operates silently within the concert hall. And the inclusion of circulation paths and buffer spaces ensure performances are not disturbed by passersby or other activities in the buildings.

The arts studios are designed to promote clarity and warmth of sound, while controlling the loudness of large rehearsals. Quiet HVAC and good sound isolation among spaces provide a clear and uninterrupted learning environment.

Together, these thoughtfully integrated architectural and acoustical strategies elevate the student experience, supporting inspired performance, focused learning, and a vibrant future for the arts at Emma Willard School.