Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
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Once completed, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will be a 316,000 square-foot performing arts center. Located in Downtown Kansas City, it will serve the Kansas City Metropolitan Area as host to three resident companies: the Kansas City Symphony, Ballet, and Opera. Ground was broken on October 6, 2006, and it is scheduled to open its doors in December 2009.
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[edit] Performance Facilities
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of two halls and a theatre:
- Proscenium Theater—An 1,800-seat proscenium theatre for theatrical performances, ballet, and opera.
- Concert Hall—A 1,600-seat concert hall for musical performances. This hall can be configured for "in the round" performances.
- Celebration Hall—A multi-use venue available for performances, meetings, group gatherings, and special events serving both educational and smaller performing arts groups. It can be configured for 250 seats for performances and 400 seats for banquets and special events.
The theater and concert hall are joined by a central glass-enclosed lobby that will lead to terraced gardens on the nine-acre grounds. In addition, facilities are available for banquets, receptions, and other events.
[edit] Resident Companies
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will be the home of three resident companies:
- Kansas City Ballet
- Kansas City Lyric Opera
- Kansas City Symphony
In addition, visiting companies, musical acts, theater troops, speakers, and others can utilize the facility.
[edit] Architects and Architecture
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts was designed by Yasuhisa Toyota (acoustician), Richard Pilbrow (theater consultant), and Moshe Safdie (lead architect).
The building serves as a connection between Downtown and Southern areas of the city. The structure is formed by a series of undulating vertical segments of a circle, forming the Northern container of the theater's back stage, concert hall and community theater. They from an ascending segmented, gently curving, crown to the building. From the crest, the roof descends in a curve following the geometry of a torus of light cables, metal and glass structure toward the South. The tensile forces of the suspended glass roof of the foyer are counteracted by a series of cables tying down the structure to anchors at the entrance tarrace. The curved, segmented Northern walls are sheathed with stainless steel and punctuated by acid-etched, limestone colored, pre-cast concrete perpendicular walls. The theater facades are sheathed with beech wood panels forming continuous curved, stacked balconies. The various lounges form sculptural shapes visible under the glass foyer structure.
Firms involved with the project include:
- Moshe Safdie & Associates, Architect
- Nagata Acoustics
- Theatre Projects Consultants (TPC)
- BNIM Architects
- JE Dunn Construction Company, General Contractor
- MC Lioness Realty Group, LLC
[edit] Key Events
1996—Initiation of planning.
October 6, 2006—Groundbreaking ceremony and festivities.
December, 2006—Construction begins.
December, 2009—Scheduled operations begin.
[edit] Organization
The Kaufmann Center for the Performing Arts is a 501(c)(3) public charity.
The current Board of Directors is:
- Julia Irene Kauffman, Chair
- Honorable Peggy J. Dunn
- Ken Dworak
- Shirley Bush Helzberg
- David C. Lady
- Robert A. Kipp
- Louis W. Smith
- Jan Kreamer
[edit] See Also
[edit] External Links
- Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts official web site.
