Avery Fisher Hall

Avery Fisher Hall, located in New York City, is a part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and is one of the most famous concert halls in the world. The hall contains 2,738 seats.

History

The hall opened in 1962, replacing Carnegie Hall as the New York Philharmonic's home concert venue. The new hall was originally named Philharmonic Hall. It was renamed after Avery Fisher, a member of the Philharmonic board of directors, following his US $10.5 million donation to the orchestra in 1973.

The hall's architecture was designed by Max Abramovitz.

Acoustics

that the hall would sound different from how they had intended it to, but they could not predict what the changes would do.

Philharmonic Hall opened on September 23, 1962 to mixed reviews. The opening week of concerts included performances by a specially-invited list of guest orchestras (Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland), who were regularly appearing at Carnegie Hall each season, as well as the new hall's home ensemble. Several reporters panned the hall, while at least two conductors praised the acoustics. (While the initial intention had been that Philharmonic Hall would replace Carnegie Hall, which could then be torn down, that scenario of events did not take place.)

Several attempts were made to remedy the acoustical problems of the new Philharmonic Hall, with little success, leading to plans in the 1970s for a substantial renovation project designed by noted acoustician Cyril Harris with project architect Philip Johnson. These renovations included demolishing the inside of the hall and rebuilding a new hall within the outer framework and facade. While initial reaction to the improvements was favorable, overall feelings about the new hall's sound soured, and the acoustics of Avery Fisher Hall continued to be problematic. One assessment of the acoustics of the hall from R.C. Ehle stated:

"The seating capacity is large (around 2600 seats) and the sidewalls are too far apart to provide early reflections to the center seats. The ceiling is high to increase reverberation time but the clouds are too high to reinforce early reflections adequately. The bass is weak because the very large stage does not adequately reinforce the low string instruments." [Robert C. Ehle, "What Does It Take to Make a Good Hall for Music?" "Music Teacher International Magazine" article.]

During the tenure of Kurt Masur with the New York Philharmonic, several plastic concave surfaces were installed and suspended from the roof of the stage to help focus sound both for the audience and for the performers onstage.

The ongoing problems with the hall's acoustics eventually led the New York Philharmonic to consider a merger with Carnegie Hall in 2003, [ [http://www.wnyc.org/music/articles/16555 Brian Wise, "New York Philharmonic to Carnegie Hall". WNYC (radio station), 2 June 2003.] ] [Ralph Blumenthal and Robin Pogrebin, "New York Philharmonic Agrees to Move to Carnegie Hall". "New York Times", 2 June 2003.] which would have moved the Philharmonic back to Carnegie for most of its concerts each season. However, this planned merger did not occur. [ [http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110005250 Barbara Jepson, "No Maestros". "Wall Street Journal", 22 June 2004.] ]

Beginning in 2005 (and continuing in 2006), the Mostly Mozart Festival has experimented with extending the stage for the Mostly Mozart orchestra farther out into the seats from the main stage for the Festival's summer sesaon. [James R. Oestreich, "An Intimate Stage Plan for the Mostly Mozart Festival". "New York Times", 3 May 2005.] [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB081FF83D550C728FDDA10894DD404482 Tommasini, Anthony, "New Vigor, New Program, New Stage: The Rejuvenation of Mostly Mozart". "New York Times", August 31, 2005. (Accessible only to subscribers to TimesSelect.)] ] According to a June 2006 report in the "New York Times", Avery Fisher Hall will begin to undergo renovations in the summer of 2010, [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40D1EF93F550C728DDDAF0894DE404482 Tommasini, Anthony, "The Philharmonic's Double Challenge". "New York Times", June 11, 2006. (Accessible only to subscribers to TimesSelect.)] ] delayed from previous announcements of renovations in 2009. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/20/arts/music/20philharmonic.html?ex=1158811200&en=79cde3f90e009a83&ei=5070 Pogrebin, Robin, "New York Philharmonic to Redesign Hall". "New York Times", May 20, 2004.] ]

Usage

Avery Fisher Hall is used today for many events, both musical and non-musical. For example, it is a frequent location for graduation ceremonies for high schools and universities, such as Columbia University Law School, Brooklyn Law School, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Stuyvesant High School, Edward R. Murrow High School, Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers, Polytechnic University of New York,Bronx High School of Science, Marymount Manhattan College, Juilliard School and St.George's University School of Medicine. Weddings are held there as well.

The first television broadcast from Avery Fisher Hall was one of the Leonard Bernstein Young People's Concerts. It was shown on November 21, 1962, over the CBS television network. The program was entitled "The Sound of a Hall". At that time, the building was still known as Philharmonic Hall.

In addition, Lincoln Center presents visiting orchestras in Avery Fisher Hall, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, as part of their [http://www.lincolncenter.org/load_screen.asp?screen=Great%20Performers "Great Performers"] series.

Avery Fisher Hall is also regularly seen to good advantage in PBS's ongoing "Live from Lincoln Center" series.

ee also

* List of major concert halls

External links

* [http://www.lincolncenter.org Website of Lincoln Center]
* [http://www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/averyfisherhall/theater.html Guide to events at Avery Fisher Hall]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE0DE1E38F93BA1575AC0A961948260&sec=&pagewanted=all Will Crutchfield, "Music: Carnegie Hall vs. Fisher Hall". New York Times, 28 September 1987]

References and Sources

*cite book
last = Melone
first = Deborah
authorlink =
coauthors = Eric W. Wood
year = 2005
title = Sound Ideas: Acoustical Consulting at BBN and Acentech
publisher = Acentech Incorporated
location = Cambridge, MA
id = LCCN 2006920681

*"Annals of Architecture: A Better Sound" by Bruce Bliven. New Yorker magazine, November 8, 1976.