Aug. 1, 2025 | by Alexander Lin
Edited by Christina Manceor
The unbreakable bond between performers and the space in which they express their art form shapes the experience for the performer and consumer alike. More than simply a location where performances are held, venues often serve as a reflection of the desires of the artist, the history of whichever piece they may be performing, and the culture of the environment around them.
From outdoor park spaces, to majestic churches, to underground clubs, the architecture, history, and acoustics of a venue inform the choices musicians make with both programming and performance—not necessarily to simply ‘fit the space,’ but to enhance and elevate, and make it a part of the story that they tell. The properties and aesthetics of a venue emphasize historical and musical context; for example, programmers would tend to make different choices when performing in an elegant space like the George Peabody Library, versus a more subdued one like a public park.
Note: The PBS program Songs About Buildings and Moods explores the connections between music and architecture; Season 2, Episode 1 features the George Peabody Library and Peabody alumni ensemble Bergamot Quartet!
The architecture of performance spaces not only tells a visual story, but the sounds the musicians make with their instruments, voices, and laptops interact with the physical properties of the venue and alter the sound that the audience receives. This reveals an untold layer of storytelling beneath the surface.
As part of the Acoustics program at Peabody, we are very invested in the intersectionality between architecture and performance spaces and how it informs the music that we hear. Much in the same way a medieval choir might choose a cathedral for the representation of the historical architecture in conjunction with the music, they would likely also choose it for the powerful reverberation that results from the arched construction for performance. In fact, many of these pieces were composed with the acoustics of the space in mind.
Throughout our studies, we in the acoustics program primarily seek to design rooms to have low noise conditions for the purpose of the space, be it an office building, a hospital, or a concert hall. But beyond the technical aspects of my work, I also hope to tell stories through the lens of architecture, design, and music. On the surface, acoustics may just seem like math and physics, but there lies an artistic vision in all our work that overlays with the technical aspects.
An integral part of the graduate program in acoustics, as well as my own learning and understanding of these spaces, is the Concert Hall Field Study (CHFS). CHFS is a biannual field study program where the acoustics cohort—accompanied by select recording students and faculty—travel to another continent for 10 days to critically listen to concert halls in different cities.
Although concert halls are not the only space for musical expression, visiting similar spaces on consecutive days provided a framework to make concrete comparisons between the different acoustic environments. The density of the programming also helped us make back-to-back judgements and adequate correlations unclouded by time.
As a part of the 2025 Field Study, we traveled to four different cities and five different halls in Europe. These include Stavanger Konserthus in Stavanger (Norway), Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), La Seine Musicale and Philharmonie de Paris in Paris (France), and KKL Luzern in Lucerne (Switzerland). It was an intriguing process to explore the unique aspects of each space in these different locations.
There were several different aspects to each space we considered when analyzing its acoustics, including geometry, time period, volume, purpose, and context.
The halls we visited had a variety of different geometries and acoustics methods that affected the auditory signature of the room. Concertgebouw, Konserthus Stavanger, and KKL were all shoeboxes (rectangular), and La Seine Musicale and Philharmonie de Paris were both vineyards (a stage in the center with audiences surrounding it). The shape of the rooms and the reflectors above the audience had a significant effect on how reverberant, direct, and intimate the room was.
The period of hall construction ranged from the 1880s up to the 2010s, and we got to see how the period of time affected the methodology in which some of these halls were constructed, as well as equate them to the era of acoustics consulting they were constructed in. The earliest hall, Concertgebouw, was constructed before acoustics was even a formal practice.
There was a significant variety in seating and volume in all these halls as well. Some (La Seine Musicale) sat only 1200, while Philharmonie sat up to 2,400. KKL even utilized an interesting technique called ‘coupled volume,’ which includes a sizable reverberation chamber adjacent to the hall with a few access points to the primary audience chamber that changes the time and strength of the room.
Throughout our travels, we also had the privilege to meet with a few of the acousticians who had a hand in designing these spaces, not only learning more about how some of these halls were developed, but the intentional choices made within the design of the venue to optimize it for its specific purpose. Hearing from professionals in the field helped me more deeply understand the role of acoustics and architecture in music performance, and helped me build connections within the industry.
What was most striking to me, and somewhat to my surprise, was how my free time informed the way I listened to the halls. I was not just going to concert halls in a vacuum, I was reaching them through the lens of cities with unique histories and cultures that influenced the way the architects designed the spaces, the way the conductors programmed their repertoire, and the way that the audience listened to the music.
For example, the city of Amsterdam is very proud of their pedestrian friendly infrastructure, and I was delighted to learn that the Concertgebouw was placed in a public space with a flat, accessible layout to emphasize the cultural values of Amsterdam. Paris, on the other hand, is a city that is focused on fine design and innovation, and the two halls we visited there were easily the most uniquely visually striking out of the five.
While I was exploring the cities we visited, I hopped on a boat in western Norway, cycled in Amsterdam, took the Metro in Paris, and hiked through the foothills in Lucerne, meeting locals, and sharing regional food and drink all along the way. Every region felt like its own unique universe, with stories waiting to be told around every corner. The music, acoustics, and architecture of each hall I listened to was a living and breathing reflection of the city’s storybook.
Architectural acoustics is not simply an exercise of calculations, computations, and predictions. While that certainly is a part of it, what I learned while abroad is that acoustics is a wonderful intersectional industry of music, design, math, architecture, and culture. Every venue, every building, every calculation that emerging acousticians pour into their projects throughout their careers is the expression of the world as we hear (and see) it through our lenses. There is no doubt the performers are the storytellers, but our stories lay nestled into the fabric of the infrastructure, and the music they perform interacts with the structures we design.
So next time you go see a live performance, take a look around you and appreciate the space you’re standing in. Every space you listen to live music in is the product of dozens of people working together to create a space that curates the experience. However, it is not just the architects and musicians that create the venue. You, the audience members, are directly shaping the history of the venue.
Alex is an acoustician and freelance concert technician who specializes in integrated systems design. He spends most of his time listening to albums and learning about human culture through adventure.