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 View of the circular grand lobby with gallery lobby
in the foreground and the Seattle Arts Museum beyond.
Model photo courtesy of LMN Architects
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Benaroya Hall, Seattle's first facility
designed exclusively for concert music performances and the new home of the Seattle
Symphony, opened Saturday, September 12. The concert hall have two spaces designed for
musical performances - a 2,500-seat main auditorium and an intimate, 540-seat recital
hall.
The hall opened with a two-week inaugural celebration September 12 - 25, featuring both
classical and popular concerts. A free Day of Music: A Community Arts Celebration was
held on Sunday, September 20, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. This day long open house featured a
range of artists and ensembles representing the richness of Puget Sound performing arts,
including classical, jazz, ethnic, folk, dance, theatre, storytelling and children's'
programming. |
Free noontime tours of
Benaroya Hall begun on Monday, September 14, and a series of free noontime concerts
performed by community groups from September 21 - 25.
Visual Art at Benaroya Hall
Artists Anna Valentina Murch, Erin Shie Palmer, Robert Rauschenberg and Dale Chihuly
contribute to the visual tone of the hall. San Francisco artist Anna Valentina Murch
created Skytones, a 128 foot long installation in the upper-level arcade niches
of The Boeing Company Gallery. This volumetric sculpture uses light and color to create
the illusion of a continuously dissolving twilight. This installation was funded through
the Seattle Arts Commission's Public Art Program.
Seattle artist Erin Shie Palmer designed a unique entrance to the Metro bus tunnel,
located beneath Benaroya Hall. Sandblasted tiles were installed along the length of the
curved concourse wall, scattered like musical notes on a stave. The curved aluminum
ceiling, shaped to create a form reminiscent of trains and other forms of transportation,
uses neon lights to tint and shift the color. Handrails along the tunnel walls terminate
in two sculpted knobs depicting the scroll of a violin at one end and a microphone at the
other. This installation was funded through the Seattle Arts Commission's Public Art
Program and the King County Public Art Commission.
New York artist Robert Rauschenberg has created a nine-panel, 12 foot-high mural
painted on metal, installed in the lobby above the entrance to the main auditorium.
Considered by many to be one of America's masters, Rauschenberg's work incorporates
painting with various objects, to create what he calls "combines." This artwork
was commissioned by Virginia and Bagley Wright.
Pacific Northwest glass artist Dale Chihuly has created two large glass chandeliers to
adorn the north and south ends of The Boeing Company Gallery, an interior public corridor
on the Third Avenue side of Benaroya Hall. Chihuly's chandeliers are composed of clear and
gilded spiraling elements, dramatically cascading over the Metro bus tunnel entrance and
the Recital Hall staircase. The chandeliers were commissioned by Jack and Rebecca
Benaroya. |
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