Sounds of a string quintet filled the newly opened Esber Recital Hall on Penn State’s campus Tuesday night.
As musicians performed, hundreds of students and community members sat scattered throughout the hall, listening intently, doing homework or even reading the paper.
It wasn’t a concert. Penn State’s School of Music sent out an open invitation for up to 400 people to simply sit quietly in the seats for the purpose of tuning the hall.
Rick Talaske is the acoustician who designed the hall. His Illinois-based firm designs performing arts facilities all over the country.
“It’s a very intimate setting, and it’s what we think is the smallest vineyard style hall," Talaske said. "The audience wraps around the stage, creating a very intimate relationship between the performers and the audience.”
Talaske said having people in the seats to absorb the sound minimizes acoustic changes in the room. Throughout the night, retractable banners were raised and lowered to adjust reverberance and improve sound clarity, Talaske said.
“We’re here to listen, here to perform some acoustic measurements and determine the final settings for the adjustable acoustic devices,” Talaske said.
Performances included a string quintet, a piano soloist, singers and a jazz combo. The hall will be open again this afternoon for the same purpose, but with different performances.