Lyric Opera Of Chicago Gets Acoustic Makeover On Stage

The proposed backdrop that could add recital capabilities to the cavernous opera house. 

"In the latest collaboration between the renowned Chicago architect Jeanne Gang and a Chicago-area arts institution, Gang and her firm, Studio Gang Architects, have designed a new acoustical shell for Lyric Opera the company will use for its concert performances at the Civic Opera House beginning in the fall, Lyric announced Wednesday. The dynamic, modular stage enclosure, to be unveiled at Lyric's 60th anniversary concert on Nov. 1, will be the first concert shell to be created by the architectural firm, although Gang and her partners have dealt with similar acoustical design issues in previous projects, she said. 'This is a unique project for us,' she said of the new concert shell, which Lyric plans to use for performances distinct from the operatic productions that constitute its main stage season. Lyric Opera officials have not disclosed the cost or funding sources for the project. Construction of the shell is scheduled to begin next week, followed by acoustical tests of the completed enclosure later in the summer. Their intention, officials said, is to replace Lyric's existing stage shell with a more efficient, more visually appealing enclosure that will improve the projection of acoustical sound in the cavernous, 3,500-seat Ardis Krainik Theater and relate, in a design sense, to the Art Deco style of the stage proscenium, with its receding perspective. 'We thought it would be far more interesting if there was something connected to the space, so it wouldn't look like it simply dropped in from outer space,' Gang said." [Source]