Lincoln's Tully Hall set to reopen
Stew, Reich to perform at spring '09 event
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Refurbished Tully Hall will be the first to be unveiled in the massive Lincoln Center renovation project currently under way. Improvements to the building include a three-story glass lobby and a revamped auditorium, designed by Diller Scofidio and Renfro in association with FX Fowle. Changes are part of a campus-wide construction initiative that will reportedly cost $900 million or more.
Series of events celebrating the re-opening of Tully will run Feb. 22-March 8, 2009, with perfs by Steve Reich, Bang on a Can All-Stars, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Emerson String Quartet and the Juilliard Orchestra, among others. Tickets will be $25 or less.
Opening of the annual Rendez-Vous fest will be held March 5 with a pic to be announced, while Stew ("Passing Strange") takes the stage March 6.
Physical changes to the building include new theater seats, two mechanized stage extensions, a retractable film screen and equipment for digital, 3-D and other screening methods. Auditorium itself will have the same dimensions and number of seats (approximately 1,100) as its prior incarnation, with renovations serving as largely aesthetic enhancements.
Backstage amenities include expanded stage wings and dressing areas and a larger freight elevator.
Juilliard and Tully's many constituents will also have a more public profile, as the renovation will open the building to Broadway between 65th and 66th Streets. The signature feature, a Juilliard ballet studio, will have floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the street.
Tully Hall, which shuttered in May 2007 to allow for construction, is home to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and its facilities are used by Juilliard, the Film Society and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Renovations to the larger Lincoln Center campus, including Broadway and Off Broadway nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater, aim to be largely completed for the 2009-10 season.
