![Woolsey Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Woolsey_Hall.jpg)
Woolsey Hall is the primary
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, located on the campus'
Hewitt Quadrangle
Hewitt University Quadrangle, commonly known as Beinecke Plaza, is a plaza at the center of the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the home of the university's administration, main auditorium, and dining facilities. The quadr ...
in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. It was built as part of the Bicentennial Buildings complex that includes the Memorial Rotunda and the University Commons, designed by the firm
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (architect), Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was one of the outstanding American Beaux-Arts architecture, Be ...
for the Yale bicentennial celebration in 1901. With approximately 2,650 seats, it is the university's largest auditorium and hosts concerts, performances, and university ceremonies including the annual freshman convocation, senior baccalaureate, and presidential inaugurations. The building is named for
Theodore Dwight Woolsey
Theodore Dwight Woolsey (31 October 1801 – 1 July 1889) was an American academic, author and President of Yale College from 1846 through 1871.
Biography
Theodore Dwight Woolsey was born 31 October 1801 in New York City. His mother was Elizabe ...
,
President of Yale from 1846 through 1871.
["Teutonic Constitutionalism - the Role of Ethno-Juridical Discourse in the Spanish–American War"]
by Mark S. Weiner, in ''Foreign in a Domestic Sense: Puerto Rico, American Expansion, and the Constitution'', edited by Christina Duffy Burnett and Burke Marshall; published June 29, 2001, by Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Du ...
History
During the 19th century, Yale became one of the largest higher education institutions in the world, establishing seven graduate and professional schools in addition to the
undergraduate college founded in 1701. Although Yale was nominally organized as a university in 1887, its constituent schools remained mostly independent of the university administration, and they lacked any shared facilities. In 1896, as one of several initiatives to unify the new university, Yale President
Timothy Dwight V
Timothy Dwight V (November 16, 1828 – May 26, 1916) was an American academic, educator, Congregational minister, and President of Yale University (1886–1898). During his years as the school's president, Yale's schools first organized as a uni ...
proposed the construction of a central dining hall and auditorium, for which the university would need to raise $1.5 to $2 million.
The task of construction fell to the administration of
Arthur Twining Hadley
Arthur Twining Hadley (, ; April 23, 1856 – March 6, 1930) was an American economist who served as President of Yale University from 1899 to 1921.
Biography
He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of James Hadley, Professor of Greek at Y ...
, who became president 1899, two years before the university bicentennial. The position of the buildings was selected as a central node between the
Old Campus
The Old Campus is the oldest area of the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the principal residence of Yale College freshmen and also contains offices for the academic departments of Classics, English, History, Comparative Li ...
of Yale College and the
Sheffield Scientific School
Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, ...
, positioning the new university buildings as separate from the dominant College and partial to no school in particular.
Succeeding
Battell Chapel
Battell Chapel is the largest chapel of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Built in 1874–76, it was funded primarily with gifts from Joseph Battell and others of his family. Succeeding two previous chapel buildings on Yale's Old Campus, ...
as the university's largest assembly space, the new hall was the university's first secular auditorium, coinciding with Hadley's appointment as the first non-ordained person to lead the university. In 1910, a seat on the first balcony was made extra large to accommodate Yale's ultimate "big man on campus," trustee and alumnus
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
.
Design and features
The architects were
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (architect), Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was one of the outstanding American Beaux-Arts architecture, Be ...
, who a decade later designed the
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
.
Built in a
Beaux Arts style that contrasted with the university's more somber Victorian
Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
taste in the late 19th century, the new building was considered by critics to be overreaching and gaudy.
The ornately decorated hall is home to the
Newberry Memorial Organ
The Newberry Memorial Organ is among the largest and most notable symphonic organs in the world. Located in Woolsey Hall at Yale University, the organ contains 197 ranks and 166 stops comprising 12,617 pipes.
The original Woolsey Hall organ was bu ...
, one of the most renowned
Symphonic organ
The symphonic organ is a style of pipe organ that flourished during the first three decades of the 20th century in town halls and other secular public venues, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. It has roots in 19th-century ...
s in the world. This hall serves as the main performance venue for the
New Haven Symphony Orchestra
The New Haven Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in New Haven, Connecticut. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert in 1895 and is the fourth oldest orchestra in the United States. Today, the orchestra is ...
, the Yale Bands, the
Yale Symphony Orchestra
The Yale Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra at Yale University which performs in Yale's Woolsey Hall and tours internationally and domestically. The present Music Director is William Boughton.
History
The Yale Symphony Orchestra was found ...
, the Yale Philharmonia, the
Yale Glee Club
The Yale Glee Club is a mixed chorus of men and women, consisting of students of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1861, it is the third oldest collegiate chorus in the United States after the Harvard Glee Club, founded in 1 ...
, and many smaller, student-run ensembles such as ''a cappella'' singing groups.
Woolsey Hall's murals represent the ideal of a classical education and include images on the nine muses and the goddess Athena. They reflect the age when Yale was an all-male college. The Hall is entered via the Memorial Rotunda, a vestibule containing memorials to sons of Yale who lost their lives in all American wars from the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War.
The hall's lack of draperies, carpeting and upholstered seats all contribute to its acoustics for organ performance, though the acoustics work far more in favor of the organ than for other sounds. Woolsey Hall predates any major studies within the field of acoustics, so aside from its large size, rectangular shape, hard surfaces and high vaulted ceiling, it has no peculiar architectural properties that contribute positively to its sound. Choral singers are sometimes hampered by Woolsey's muddy resonance, which easily obscures text and delicate timbres, and can also make it difficult to hear oneself on stage. Though Yale University's primary recital hall, it does lack modern amenities including: universal accessibility for people with disabilities, air conditioning, and industry-standard lighting.
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
See also
*
List of concert halls
A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats.
This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...
{{Coord, 41, 18, 40, N, 72, 55, 33, W, type:landmark, display=title
Yale University buildings
Music venues in Connecticut
Tourist attractions in New Haven, Connecticut
Carrère and Hastings buildings
Beaux-Arts architecture in Connecticut
Woolsey family
1901 establishments in Connecticut