Full name | Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall |
---|---|
Address | Class of 1975 Walk, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 |
Public transit | Princeton Branch (The Dinky) |
Owner | Princeton University |
Type | Concert venue |
Capacity | 900 |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 1892 |
Opened | 9 June 1894 |
Renovated | 1984-85 |
Website | |
princeton.edu/richaud | |
Alexander Hall | |
Coordinates | 40°20′54″N74°39′38.1″W / 40.34833°N 74.660583°W |
Architect | William Appleton Potter |
Part of | Princeton Historic District (ID75001143 [1] ) |
Added to NRHP | 27 June 1975 |
Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall is a historic 900-seat [2] Richardsonian Romanesque performance hall at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. It is home to both the Princeton University Orchestra and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.
The name of the hall honors three generations of the Alexander family, who all served as University trustees. Funding for the building was sourced from Mrs. Harriet Crocker Alexander, who donated $350,000 ($11.9 million in 2023 dollars) [3] so its name would honor her in-laws: her husband Charles B. Alexander (Class of 1870), his father Henry M. Alexander (Class of 1840), a University trustee and member of the Committee on Commencement Arrangements, and his grandfather Reverend Dr. Archibald Alexander (the Presbyterian founder of the Princeton Theological Seminary and its first professor; honorary Princeton doctorate 1810). [4]
Alexander Hall was designed by architect William Appleton Potter. Construction on the building was completed in 1894, and Alexander Hall held its first annual Commencement ceremony on June 13 of that year. [3] After the Marquand Chapel caught fire, Protestant chapel services were held in the hall. [5]
Although Alexander Hall initially functioned as a space for hosting private University affairs — including commencement, faculty meetings, and popular talks — the space was renovated and expanded into a professional-class performance hall in the 1980s following a large donation from David Richardson (Class of 1966) and growing needs on campus for a proper performing space. In 1984, the auditorium within Alexander Hall was officially renamed to Richardson Auditorium.
Following its renovation in the 1980s, the hall now has an elevator-mounted orchestra pit, sound reflectors for improved acoustics, humidity-controlled instrument storage, and a Tiffany Glass mosaic named "Homeric Story". [3] Today, the building's turrets, rusticated brownstone, and red granite-walls frequently host concerts featuring ensembles and musicians, including conductor Gustavo Dudamel [6] in 2018 and 2019.
Until 2017, when construction on Princeton University's new $330 million performing-arts center was completed, the Princeton University Orchestra rehearsed in the hall thrice per week during the academic year. Following the opening of the Lewis Center Arts, the orchestra now holds its rehearsals in the 3,500 square-foot Lee Rehearsal Room (built for the ensemble) and moves to Richardson Auditorium on the week of the concert. [7]
Beyond music, the hall maintains a strong bond with the local community as a regular venue for town meetings, and it still occasionally serves as a venue for large student events, famous guest speakers, as well as for other various University affairs.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July until September. Gustavo Dudamel is the current Musical Director, while Esa-Pekka Salonen serves as Conductor Laureate, Zubin Mehta as Conductor Emeritus, and Susanna Mälkki as Principal Guest Conductor. John Adams is the orchestra’s current Composer-in-Residence.
The Royal Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in the world, along with Boston's Symphony Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna.
Symphony Center is a music complex located at 220 South Michigan Avenue in the Loop area of Chicago, Illinois. Home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO); Chicago Symphony Chorus; Civic Orchestra of Chicago; and the Institute for Learning, Access, and Training; Symphony Center includes the 2,522-seat Orchestra Hall, which dates from 1904; Buntrock Hall, a rehearsal and performance space named for the CSO trustee and benefactor Dean L. Buntrock; Grainger Ballroom, an event space overlooking Michigan Avenue and the Art Institute of Chicago; a public multi-story rotunda; Forte, a restaurant and café; and administrative offices. In June 1993, plans to significantly renovate and expand Orchestra Hall were approved and the $110 million project resulting in Symphony Center, completed in 1997.
The Auditorium Building in Chicago is one of the best-known designs of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Completed in 1889, the building is located at the northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive. The building was designed to be a multi-use complex, including offices, a theater, and a hotel. As a young apprentice, Frank Lloyd Wright worked on some of the interior design.
Orchestra Hall is a concert hall that is located on 11th Street at Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The home of the Minnesota Orchestra, it is a major landmark of the southern portion of Nicollet Mall and hosts many events throughout the year.
Woolsey Hall is the primary auditorium at Yale University, located on the campus' Hewitt Quadrangle in New Haven, Connecticut. It was built as part of the Bicentennial Buildings complex that includes the Memorial Rotunda and the University Commons for the Yale bicentennial celebration in 1901, and was designed by the Beaux-Arts architectural firm Carrère and Hastings. With approximately 2,650 seats, it is the university's largest auditorium and hosts concerts, performances, and university ceremonies including the annual freshman convocation, senior baccalaureate, and presidential inaugurations. The building is named for Theodore Dwight Woolsey, President of Yale from 1846 through 1871.
Severance Hall, also known as Severance Music Center, is a concert hall in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, home to the Cleveland Orchestra. Opened in 1931 to give the orchestra a permanent home, the building is named for patrons John L. Severance and his wife, Elisabeth Huntingdon DeWitt Severance. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of Cleveland’s Wade Park District.
The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Despite its name, the Academy has never contained a music school. It is located between Locust and Manning Streets in the Avenue of the Arts area of Center City.
The Bienen School of Music is the music and performance arts school of Northwestern University. It is located on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois, United States.
The Perth Concert Hall is a concert hall located in Perth, the capital of the Australian state of Western Australia. Owned by the City of Perth, the concert hall is the main venue of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and also hosts a number of other events and performances. The building itself is located in Perth's central business district, adjacent to the Supreme Court Gardens and Government House. It has two façades: facing north over St Georges Terrace, and facing south over the Swan River.
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor. He is currently the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is scheduled to become the Music and Artistic Director of the New York Philharmonic in 2026.
Deborah Borda is a retired American music executive.
The Philharmonie Luxembourg, also known officially as the Grande-Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte Concert Hall, is a concert hall located in the European district in the Luxembourg City quarter of Kirchberg. Opened in 2005, it now plays host to 400 performances each year.
The Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall or Euskalduna Palace or Euskalduna Hall is located in the city of Bilbao, Basque Country (Spain), beside the Estuary of Bilbao, built in part of the area that was formerly occupied by the Euskalduna shipyards.
El Sistema is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu. It later adopted the motto "Music for Social Change." El Sistema-inspired programs provide what the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies describes as "free classical music education that promotes human opportunity and development for impoverished children." El Sistema has inspired similar programmes in more than 60 other countries. By 2015, according to official figures, El Sistema included more than 400 music centers and 700,000 young musicians. The original program in Venezuela involves four after-school hours of musical training and rehearsal each week, plus additional work on the weekends.
The University of Texas Performing Arts Center (PAC) is a collective of five theaters operated by The University of Texas at Austin, College of Fine Arts. The theaters are the Bass Concert Hall, McCullough Theater, Bates Recital Hall, B. Iden Payne Theater and Oscar Brockett Theater. Theaters range in size from the Oscar G. Brockett Theater, which has 244 seats, to the Bass Concert Hall, which seats 2,900. In addition to the theaters, the PAC also has offices and meeting rooms, rehearsal spaces and shops which are located in the PAC building and across the campus. PAC provides students an opportunity to interact with professionals in staging events and performing arts and extends an opportunity to the surrounding community to participate in all-age programs.
Edman Memorial Chapel is an auditorium facility on the campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Its primary purpose is as a chapel, though it is also used for numerous concerts and other large events. The auditorium itself seats almost 2400; the facility also includes support space for the auditorium, separate event spaces in its East Wing, and instructional space for the College's music program. The facility is located at the northeast corner of Washington and Franklin Streets in Wheaton; its tower is visible for miles around.
The Princeton Symphony Orchestra is a professional U.S. orchestra based in Princeton, New Jersey. Rossen Milanov has been music director since 2009, leading the orchestra in critically acclaimed performances. All orchestra concerts take place at the 900-seat Richardson Auditorium, a historic concert hall located on the campus of Princeton University.
Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) is the Los Angeles Philharmonic's initiative to establish youth orchestra programs in underprivileged communities throughout Los Angeles. Modeled on Venezuela's El Sistema, a program which brings classical music education to children from low-income communities, YOLA provides free instruments, music training, and academic support to nearly 800 students age 6-18. A "social project first and artistic project second", 100% of YOLA's 2016 graduating class completed high school, and 90% went on to college.
The Princeton University Orchestra (PUO) is the flagship symphony orchestra of Princeton University. The ensemble tours internationally and includes over 100 musicians, almost all of whom are undergraduates at the university. Every academic year, the Princeton University Orchestra holds eight or nine concerts in Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall.