Sound Space Design Pursues Projects Worldwide

Sound Space Design's activities include acoustics design projects worldwide in partnership with some of the world's most leading architects and designers, including Foster + Partners Architects, Zaha Hadid Architects, KPMB, Tabanlioglu Architects, Diamond & Schmitt, among others. With more than thirty years' experience, including major projects in North America, Europe, Singapore and Australia, Sound Space Design has a passion for quality, creativity and design excellence. Sound Space Design is truly one of the world's leading and most successful acoustical design firms, specializing in theatre, opera and concert hall acoustics design.

Below are some of Sound Space Design's recent and upcoming facilities projects:

Koerner Hall, Toronto, ON

The Royal Conservatory's new Koerner Hall opened on September 25, 2009 with a spectacular celebration of music by local Toronto musicians, RCM students, and internationally renowned performers. The Performance and Learning Centre project comprises a new 1140 seat concert hall plus new music practice and teaching studios. In partnership with KPMB Architects and Anne Minors Performance Consultants, Koerner Hall's beautiful design, flexible performance characteristics and superb acoustics have been praised by critics and performers alike since its opening.

"The hall is magnificent - acoustically beautiful, visually stunning, and also with just the right sense of atmosphere." Jon Kimura Parker, Pianist

AT&T Performing Arts Center Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, Dallas, TX

Featuring a bold design that is a 21st century reinterpretation of the traditional horseshoe opera house by prize winning architects Foster and Partners, the new 2,200 seat Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House opened with a Dallas Opera production of Verdi's Otello, conducted by Graeme Jenkins. The opening season also included a stunning world premiere of a new opera in April 2010, Moby Dick. Written by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, performers included Ben Heppner in the lead role and critics from around the world attended the opening, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and numerous others. Sound Space Design was responsible for the acoustics, including auditorium design, services noise control and sound isolation. Design architect was Foster + Partners, working with local architect Kendall/HEaton Associates.

"Apart from its obvious beauty, I pondered how I might pack up this gorgeous Winspear theatre and take it around with me on all of my engagements!!! I want to sing everything from it always" - Denyce Graves, Mezzo-Soprano

"Moby-Dick was commissioned to help celebrate Dallas Opera's first season in the handsome new Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House and like the other operas I've witnessed there, Verdi's Otello and Puccini's Madama Butterfly, it benefitted greatly from the acoustical design of Bob Essert, the acoustician as well of Toronto's Four Seasons Centre and Koerner Hall." - Bill Littler, Toronto Star

"...a venue most other American audiences can only envy." George Loomis, The Financial Times

Menuhin Hall, London, UK

On October 3, theatre and concert hall design consultant Anne Minors and Bob Essert hosted a gathering of friends and colleagues at the Menuhin School in celebration of Olive Minors' 90th Birthday. This musical celebration featured the world premiere of a new work by composer Kevin Jones, followed by a short concert of works performed by pupils of the Menuhin School. The Menuhin Hall, built as a memorial to Yehudi Menuhin, was opened in January 2006 by HRH Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO and Mstislav Rostropovich. Sound Space Design was responsible for all acoustics and sound system design. The hall has hosted concerts by guitarist, John Williams, pianist Andras Schiff, and any others. Architect: Burrell Foley Fischer; Theatre Consultant: Anne Minors Performance Consultants. For a more complete description of the work on Menuhin Hall, visit Sound Space Design's website And AMPC's website

AT&T Performing Arts Center Annette Strauss Square, Dallas, TX

Annette Strauss Artist Square is Dallas' new outdoor performing arts venue. Architects Foster + Partners and Good Fulton & Farrell with acoustician Sound Space Design and theatre consultant Anne Minors Performance Consultants have worked closely with the AT&T Performing Arts Center) to deliver a venue in the centre of the Dallas Arts District hosting a variety of outdoor events ranging from concerts to theatrical and dance performances to multi-day festivals, Named for the late former Mayor of Dallas, a passionate supporter of the arts and the Dallas Arts District, the venue will bring more people to the Arts District and upgrade the facilities for local and touring artists and entertainers. The Dallas Opera will simulcast its 2010 season opener in the Winspear Opera House, Don Giovanni, on a big screen in Strauss Square.

Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN

In April 2010 the Minnesota Orchestra and KPMB Architects unveiled their plans for renovations to Orchestra Hall, and Sound Space Design is responsible for the hall's acoustics. The orchestra is back in the US now after their recent European tour, where they played to critical acclaim, including at the Proms: "Vänskä's preference for tension and detail... results in playing of exceptional lucidity from an orchestra that often functions with the precision of a chamber ensemble. [Beethoven's] Ninth was extraordinarily volatile, even in the adagio-done with rapturous fluidity." Tim Ashley, The Guardian. The orchestra brought repertoire on tour that was used in the recent sound trials and simulations for their new configuration on stage in Orchestra Hall, and SSD's Bob Essert and Evan Green were able to spend considerable time working with the orchestra, both in the US and in the UK.

L'Adresse Symphonique, Montreal Symphony Orchestra

Scheduled to open in September 2011, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, led by Kent Nagano will have a brand new home situated on the northeast corner of the Place des Arts. With recordings winning major awards and nominations, and a highly successful recent European tour, the OSM is clearly a major player on the world stage, and a new home completes the foundation for a bright future. Sound Space Design is working with architects Aedifica and Diamond + Schmitt, and engineers SNC Lavalin, guiding the designers and builders on every detail to ensure the acoustical excellence desired and deserved by the MSO and the concertgoers of Montreal. The new 2,100 seat hall has been designed to create an intimate performance experience with light colored wood materials and seating surrounding three sides of the concert stage. The project has been an opportunity to work in collaboration with Artec, who is responsible on this project to the Ministry of Culture; Essert was a project leader and deputy chairman at Artec until 1996, and was largely responsible for the acoustics of their excellent halls in Lucerne, Vancouver, Singapore and West Palm Beach in the 80s and 90s.

Garsington Opera, Wormsley Park, UK

Garsington Opera runs for a short summer season and produces opera of the highest professional quality in a setting of extraordinary beauty. It has championed rarely performed works of artistic interest and high musical quality as well as mounting productions of the core repertory. Garsington Opera gives performing opportunities to the finest young singers in the UK and engages conductors and stage directors of distinction. In 2011 Garsington Opera will move to Wormsley Park, owned by the Getty family. Sound Space Design have been advising the opera company and Snell Associates Architects, creating acoustics that will allow the opera company to flourish in this outdoor performance environment. The new tensile fabric structure will provide greater acoustical presence, stage capability and audience comfort.

Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Centre

Zaha Hadid Architects take the lead design role on this project, a performing arts center in Abu Dhabi designed to house five theaters, including a music hall, concert hall, opera house, drama theater and a flexible theater, with a combined seating capacity of 6,300. Sound Space Design is responsible for the acoustics and Anne Minors Performance Consultants is responsible for the theater interiors. Schedule tba.

Gergiev Cultural Center, Vladikavkaz

Anne Minors Performance Consultants and Sound Space Design, collaborating with Foster + Partners, have completed the design for a new music centre in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, Russia. A gesture of goodwill and support from the central government and Valery Gergiev Foundation, the project will bring Maestro Gergiev's deep passion for music and its power for social harmony to the city where he was raised, a troubled, yet historic area of the Caucasus. The project includes a Philharmonic Concert Hall, (1,200 seats), Chamber Music Hall (300 seats) an open-air amphitheater (2,000-3,000) seats; a Music School of Excellence and a multi-purpose Media Center. Details tba.

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