All Together Now
A $25 million new music and performance addition unites music with theater, dance, and cinema and media studies at the Weitz Center for Creativity.
at the Weitz Center for Creativity
The Every Carl for Carleton campaign began to the tune of bulldozers, jackhammers, and forklifts busily adding a new Music and Performance Commons to the Weitz Center for Creativity. After celebrating groundbreaking in May 2016, the Carleton community raised $25 million to complete the 58,131 square foot construction in time for the start of the 2017 fall term and unite the entire music department with the theater, dance, and cinema and media studies departments on campus.
“Music has changed—it really has porous boundaries,” said Steve Richardson, Carleton’s director of the arts. Housing these artistic disciplines together, he said, is a way to spark more collaboration and creativity.
The move to the Weitz Center has not only enriched musical partnerships and explorations but also improved music technology on campus. Current facilities were designed for state-of-the-art sound in 1915 and the 1960s—now woefully outdated in today’s musical era.
At the heart of the new addition is Kracum Performance Hall, large enough to seat 400 and flexible enough to host full orchestras, lectures with audio and visual projections, and dance troupes, as well as soloists and small chamber ensembles.
The new addition also features:
- Shackel Rehearsal Hall, complete with audiovisual equipment and connected backstage to Kracum Performance Hall
- Applebaum Recital Hall, complete with audiovisual equipment and able to accommodate 60 audience members
- Puzak Chamber Studio, ready for use as a master classroom or as an intimate performance space for small ensembles
- Hamlin Creative Space, a prominent collaborative white space conducive to multimedia installation