A watercolor rendering of the projected interior of the concert hall was displayed in the window of the Rockport Music Society’s office next door to the theater.

Have you been to a classical or jazz concert or Met Opera simulcast at the new Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Massachusetts? A short time ago it was the long time dream resonating in the hearts of the extended “family” of the Rockport Music Society   The Society had the intelligence and good taste to employ the Architectural firm of  Deborah Epstein and Alan Joslin to design their new concert hall. Epstein and Joslin is the firm that also designed the incomparable Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood. The efforts of Rockport Music over the decades in providing top quality chamber music to the community at large inspired Ms. Shalin Liu, a Taiwanese-born philanthropist living in Boston with interests in educational, humanitarian and cultural causes, to generously support the project. The hall is, therefore, named after her.   

The theater seats 330 people and its most spectacular feature is an enormous glass window that forms the back wall of the stage. This portal looks out onto the picturesque coast line of Rockport with views out to the Atlantic Ocean. The interior space has a kind of Noah’s Ark feeling creating sanctuary and buoyancy, floating beyond the distractions of everyday concerns. When the music begins one half expects to be launched out to a mythic sea where journeys of the spirit are powered by harmonious trade winds of beautiful music.    

The Architects in concert with the acoustician R. Lawrence Kirkegaard Lawrence Kirkegaard have created an intimate warm space that has a mellow clean sound as if you are sitting inside a well crafted cello. The use of Douglas fir and American walnut around the hall, combined with the textured stone covering the lower walls creates a natural esthetic that speaks of the surrounding woods and stony shores of Cape Ann. As dusk dims the brightness of day, tall screens of woven wood are drawn across the glass wall behind the musicians. This emphasizes the intimate proportions of the hall, drawing the audience into close proximity with the performers. In the lofty spaces above the auditorium wooden beams and steel rods support the wooden ceiling creating  an uplifting draw that allows the music to soar and the imagination to fly.

The timber frame of the hall was pre -milled from Douglas fir and hoisted into place by an enormous crane. I was fortunate enough to be passing by on my bicycle at the end of October, 2009 and came to a screeching halt to witness the spectacle.

The honey colored  wood contrasting against the polished blue sky is joined by the use of  mortise and tenons and held in place with stout pegs in traditional building techniques of old New England.

The seeming simplicity of the framing belies the complexity of the over all structure.  

The Victorian mansard styling of the façade references the original Haskins building on the site .  The colors inside and out also have a Victorian palette. The architectural details are of fine quality, using slate for the roof with copper flashing and drain spouts. Wrought iron fencing decorates the crown of the roof completing the thoughtful historicity of the music hall.

The balcony follows suit and uses the same woven wood motif as the stage screens. Architect, Deborah Epstein, describes this detail as an “architectural seascape” with light coming through the weave creating scalloping shapes as you see on the surface of water.  

Here the Douglas fir stage screens are beginning to be drawn across the glass “sail” behind the piano as “shadows of the evening steal across the sky.”

My husband Leo and I have a tradition of attending the June Rockport Chamber Music Festival. This year we were lucky enough to get tickets to the premier season at the Shalin Liu Performance Center. We heard a spirited concert preformed by the Boston Trio playing piano trios of Mozart, Ives and Mendelssohn. We were thrilled by the spectacular new concert hall and even more by the accomplished trio of lovely  women who played with great emotional panache.    

From the water side of the Rockport Music concert hall the building stands proud, harmonizing well with the surrounding village.

At entr’acte I skipped across the street to snap this picture of the warm glow emanating from the pristine building as the sunset staining the horizon faded, allowing diamond stars to vibrate with the music of the spheres celebrating the fine achievement of Rockport Music