Concert Hall serves as Moody building’s focal point - News - Tuscaloosa News - Tuscaloosa, AL

Although its core concert hall has attracted the most ears, the 135,000 square feet of floor space in the entire Frank Moody Music Building is not all public performance space.

The aesthetically and acoustically prestigious space was actually completed before the rest of the building (which was fully commissioned in the fall of 1988). The University of Alabama School of Music held the opening ceremony of a new opera house in December 1987. The concert was titled legendary opera singer Marilyn Horne and performed with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

The architects of Woollen, Molzan and Partners from Indianapolis, Indiana, and Fitts and White from Tuscaloosa, joined Kirkegaard Associates in Chicago for acoustic design, and joined Roger Morgan Studio in New York City (now Sachs Morgan Studio) ) Conduct a theater consultation to make a Moody movie. The size of the hall is the same as that of the Musikverein hall in Vienna, which is considered one of the best halls in the world.

When Jenny Mann joined the Conservatory in 2006, she recalled that the excellent acoustics and huge size of Moody's Hall left a deep impression.

Mann said: "For a small regional orchestra that plays on a university campus, it is not easy to have a truly impressive large concert hall," Mann is the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra. The lead bassoonist, also serves as an executive director, helping to plan the performance season, hiring musicians and booking guest soloists. "Many times (in other places) the ceiling is low, there are fewer chairs, and it is not so bright and open.

"Our soloists and guest artists are always pleasantly surprised and happy to see this space."

The curtains can be raised or lowered along the side walls to change the sound effect. A pile of plexiglass clouds above the stage will affect the sound distribution. All these flexibility are driven by a motor and controlled by the background. The lobby has two balconies that can accommodate about 1,000 seats, most floors are fixed, and the side balconies have some movable seats. The edges of the stage can be moved to create a symphony orchestra theater for ballet and opera performances.

Throughout the school year, TSO, the Hexford Symphony Orchestra and many other bands perform here regularly. It has hosted visiting legendary musicians, including violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Emanuel Ax, as well as strong voices from bass baritone concert singer William Warfield to soul singer Al Green to actor James Earl Jones. He was in the first place. The life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. was spoken at the celebration of the realization of dreams.

Others who played or spoke on the Moody Hall stage, or both, included Joshua Bell, John Legend, Maya Angelou, Sidney Poitiers, Harry Bella Fontaine, Roberta Flack and the rock band Kansas.

Dean of the Academy of Music Charles "Skip" Snead said that asking him to choose what he likes from Moody's all ages is like asking "Red Tide" fans to choose his top iron plate showdown.

"For me, the most important thing is the performance of our students, many of whom have successfully pursued careers and have done important things, including small concerts, large concerts, student recitals," Snead said . These are the most important things in the end. This building exists only because it serves our students.

Visually, audibly and financially-fully funded by private donors-the huge Holtkamp organ is located in the center of the hall. Eighty-six columns of huge silver-plated tubes rise above the keyboard. The keyboard itself is above the stage, totaling about 5,000. Its 65 1/2 independent limiters-valves that allow compressed air to enter or block the pipeline-are all operated electrically, while the buttons work mechanically.

Mann said: "The Holtkamp organ is indeed top-notch, a very special instrument." "This is what people should hear and really understand more."

There are four other organs throughout Moody, including the smaller but impressive Schlick playing in the recital hall, and three practical organs. The solo concert hall is designed for smaller concerts and lectures, with a capacity of 140 seats, and the chorus theater can accommodate vocal lessons and rehearsals, although the exterior of Bryant Jordan Hall is now the seat of the UA Opera House.

There are teaching rooms, jazz rehearsal and organ rooms, 52 practice rooms, media centers, research laboratories, and electronic and computer music studios throughout the building.

There is a new wing there, which was recently damaged by fire, adding 24,000 feet of rehearsal, storage, recording and other space, and is the location of The Million Dollar Band.

The Conservatory is not just a performance represented by professors and students of string, woodwind, brass, percussion, keyboard and sound. The school also includes postgraduate and undergraduate composition studies, music theory and history; music therapy, which can meet various healthcare needs; music management, where students combine art and business to keep the vital functions of art organizations flourishing; and Music education is for those who will become the next generation of professors of jazz, pop, folk, classical and any form, choir directors and soloists, teachers of bands and orchestras.

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