Visit to Walt Disney Hall offers peek into Kansas City's future

Date: October 14, 2008

Author: Kauffman Center

In September,  a group of more than 20 Kansas Citians traveled to Los Angeles for a special tour of Walt Disney Concert Hall, whose interior design is much like that of the concert hall in the Kauffman Center.  Since two of the three members of the Kauffman Center design team, Richard Pilbrow and Yasu Toyota, helped create Disney Hall, Kansas City is benefiting from lessons learned in LA.

So a visit to Disney Hall provides a special sneak peek into the future of Kansas City’s music scene.

“When we walked into the Disney Hall, you could hear a soft inhale from members of our group,” said Betsey Solberg, who, along with her husband Rick, was part of the group.  “We had all seen the hall in photographs, but in person it literally takes your breath away.”  Remarking on the circular seating arrangement, Betsey said, “The entire audience is close to the musicians and you feel more a part of the music.  It is exhilarating and inspirational.”

Acting much like Goldilocks, the entire Kansas City contingent tried out seats in various places in the hall.  Most at first tried to figure out where their “usual” seats would be.  But Betsey noticed that the entire group soon became interested in thinking differently about where they might sit in this circular hall.

Tom Beal was one person who experienced a sort of epiphany. “I was surprised how much I enjoyed sitting in the seats behind the orchestra. I wasn’t expecting to like that particular aspect of the hall, but I really did.”  Tom realized that it would be a really change the symphony experience to see the conductor’s face, his baton at work and to see the rest of the audience reacting to the music. 

Acoustician Yasu Toyota joined the group on their tour, and described the incredible attention to acoustical issues that has been paid in Disney Hall, and in both Kauffman Center halls.  Yasu is on the world’s very short list of leading acousticians and is a vital part of the Kauffman Center design team.

Donor and Kauffman Center Ambassador Dick Fagerberg reacted favorably to what he heard and experienced during his Disney Hall visit.  “I was impressed that the acoustics were so fine that we could stand in the uppermost reaches of the hall and carry on a conversation with someone on the stage at normal voice level.”  In the Kauffman Center, seating at the rear of the concert hall is only 110 feet away from the musicians on stage.

The group also got an up-close-and-personal tour of the dozens of backstage artist production rooms and facilities that, unseen to the public, make magnificent musical performances possible. Spaces for rooms like this will emerge at the Kauffman Center site as the structural steel starts to go up in November.

See the complete photo album of the group's visit.