Benedict Music Tent
Aspen, Colo.
Harry Teague Architects

Tradition and improved acoustics in a new tent for the Aspen Music Festival

© Timothy Hursley

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

By David Dillon

The new Benedict Music Tent seats 2,050 beneath a swelling white dome reminiscent of a schooner under sail. Patrons sit on long wooden benches that fan out from a sunken stage, or flop on a sloping lawn dotted with birch trees. The skirt of the tent consists of 180 vertical louvers in blue that open to the lawn and the mountains in good weather and that can be closed against wind and rain.

The Benedict is made of the same Teflon-coated fiberglass that covers the main terminal at Denver International Airport. It has the same transparency and warmth as canvas and the strength to withstand snow loads of 95 pounds per square foot. The fabric is secured by steel cables anchored to massive concrete blocks that could be footings for a small bridge.

The tougher challenge was to approximate concert hall acoustics within the soft embrace of a tent. Bayer’s design had a simple thrust stage and few hard surfaces to reflect the sound. Because the musicians couldn’t hear themselves or one another, they had to anticipate the conductor’s beat to keep pace.

The architects designed an acoustical shell to bounce sound back to the stage and out to the lawn. Fabric reflectors swoop above and around the players. The old mushiness has given way to a new brightness and balance; it still doesn’t rival the sound in a concert hall, but it’s better than anything festival audiences have heard in years. The shell rests on four tapering steel columns designed to sway as much as 12 inches.

A tight budget forced a few compromises backstage. While there is space for storage, rehearsal, and services, it is mostly raw and rather grim. The green room, for example, is a painted concrete-block wall. The backstage area, though, is connected by underground tunnel to Harris Hall, which provides more rehearsal and performance space.

See the July 2001 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of building:
Benedict Music Tent

Location:
Aspen, Colo.

Gross square footage:
Backstage Lower Level 7,915 SF
Backstage Upper Level 5,360 SF
Tunnel 905 SF
Upper Choir Balcony 1,969 SF
Stage 3,531 SF
Ambulatory 4,824 SF
Seating Bowl 13,076 SF
TOTAL AREA 37,480 SF

Total construction cost:
$ 11,200,000

Owner:
Aspen Music Festival and School
2 Music School Road
Aspen, CO 81611
www.aspenmusicfestival.com

Architect's firm:
Harry Teague Architects
412 N. Mill Street
Aspen, CO 81611
Phone: (970) 925 2556
Fax: (970) 925 7981
E-mail – mail@teaguearch.com
www.harryteaguearchitects.com