Construction to begin on Stanford’s cutting-edge concert hall

A cutting-edge concert hall launches an "arts district" at Stanford. Top architects and acousticians have designed the 844-seat Bing Concert Hall to accommodate everything from soloists to full orchestras, classical masterpieces to the latest computer-generated sounds. On Tuesday, May 11, Stanford University will celebrate the groundbreaking for its state-of-the-art concert hall, which is slated for completion in summer 2012, with the first public performances in January 2013. The 844-seat Bing Concert Hall has been designed for a wide range of music performances, from small chamber ensembles to full-sized orchestras, jazz, multi-media, newly commissioned works and world music, and has an architectural and acoustic plan from some of the foremost designers in the world. The 112,000-square-foot hall will stand at the east end of Museum Way. It will be a short distance from the Cantor Arts Center, which is on the opposite side of Palm Drive, the university's palm-lined gateway to the campus. The groundbreaking heralds an even more comprehensive Stanford vision: the launch of an arts district at the "front door" of the campus, just off Palm Drive, which is the extension of University Avenue, the main artery through downtown Palo Alto.