Groton Hill Music Center
Location
Groton, Massachusetts
Owner
Indian Hill Music
Team
Acoustics and AV - Threshold
Architect - Epstein Joslin Architects
Theatre Consultant - Theatre Consultants Collaborative
Size
1,000-seat Concert Hall
1,000-seat Lawn
300-seat Recital Hall
75-seat Recital Hall
Schedule
Completed 2023
Groton Hill Music’s new home is anchored by a 1,000-seat concert hall that opens to lawn seating with full view of the stage. The material palette of laminated timber, pine, and local quartzite, is rare for a concert hall. It forms not only the visible structure, but also the hall’s architectural expression, its acoustic boundary, and the majority of its interior finish. All are accomplished with materials that sequester carbon to an unusual degree.
Audio and video systems provide for atmospheric projection directly onto the upstage wall, Live at the Met simulcast events in the Recital Hall, and infrastructure to allow live streaming of student recitals to distant (and no doubt appreciative) relatives who can’t attend the events in person.
Read the full article featured in Structures Magazine, August 2023.
The center also offers recital halls as well as a versatile orchestra rehearsal room, piano studios, rehearsal rooms for percussion, jazz, rock, and chamber ensembles, and a jazz room.
The two largest halls have graceful, organic shapes developed through an exhaustive acoustic modelling process that facilitated evaluation of alternatives by ear – ceiling height, canopy size, side wall shaping, and variable absorption systems were all evaluated via auralizations, with the client’s direct involvement in the listening.
“The room is a very warm and generous conveyor of each sound a musician produces, the room remains clear and doesn't become confused when sound pressure grows. It was a pleasure to be able to work with the acousticians, who also remain warm and clear when the pressure grows.”
— David Foxe, Architect
