University of Memphis Scheidt Family Performing Arts Center

Overview

New facility expands the School of Music’s instructional areas and features a 1,000-seat multi-functional performance venue for use by the music school and community partners. The Center also houses performance support facilities, rehearsal rooms, classrooms/ teaching spaces, administration/ faculty offices, storage, and building support.

Special attention was directed to enabling the main performance hall to function as both a concert hall and an opera house. A strategic approach was taken to the auditorium’s design in relation to its scale and volume. Tall ceilings above the stage house accommodated theatrical rigging for opera’s pageantry while also creating a naturally strong and powerful reverberant environment suitable for operatic performers. Performances of musical ensembles are accommodated by the use of a concert shell with the flexibility to surround large orchestras and concert bands and showcase small jazz or chamber ensembles.

State-of-the-art spaces were designed using leading-edge acoustical, theatrical, and audiovisual criteria. System layout and selection supports education/instructional purposes, student use, collaboration, and provides systems professional performing artists use and expect. The team also focused on infrastructure to support subsequent upgrades as needs for learning and engagement evolve.