UW-Madison School of Music selects architect

The New York City firm of Holzman Moss Bottino Architecture, in association with Madison, Wis.-based Strang Inc., has been selected by the state of Wisconsin to design the new University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Music performance center.

Representatives from the Division of State Facilities, UW–Madison Office of Facilities Planning and Management, UW System, the School of Music and the UW Foundation viewed presentations made by the four finalists, with the winning team selection made by special committee.

More than half of a projected budget of $43 million has been raised. Ongoing fundraising for the project will ensure that the 57,000-square-foot building is constructed entirely with private funding. A key component of the East Campus Gateway, the building will be located on University Avenue adjacent to the expanded Chazen Museum of Art.

“The UW–Madison is among the top five percent of music schools in the country,” says Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters & Science. “This new facility will enable us to build on this reputation, to attract the most talented undergraduate and graduate students as well as top faculty.”

“The School of Music is a valued contributor to the lively and diverse east campus arts neighborhood,” says John Schaffer, director of the School of Music. “Our goal is not only to design a building that is a much needed laboratory training space for the development of our talented students, but is also an inviting and accessible place for the Madison community of music lovers to experience our over 350 free concerts a year.”

In addition to rehearsal rooms, the new performance space will feature two concert halls with capacity for 350 and 800 people. The performance venues will complement the existing Overture Center spaces.

“When this building is completed, the city of Madison, the entire Dane County area, will be able to enjoy an incredible range of cultural activities — some experimental, some traditional — all within walking distance,” adds Schaffer. “And our students and faculty will be able to produce and present their best work to these audiences.”

Holzman Moss Bottino Architecture is a national architectural and interior design firm specializing in the design of cultural, civic and academic buildings, including libraries, facilities for student life and performing and visual art centers that welcome public use. The firm has extensive experience in designing new construction, expanding existing facilities, restoring historic buildings and creatively adapting existing facilities for new uses.

The firm’s portfolio of work includes the American Ballet Theater in New York City; the Arkansas State University Center of the Performing Arts; Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York; Georgetown University Performing Arts Center, Washington, D.C.; Middlebury College Center for the Arts; the Del and Lou Ann Weber Fine Arts Building at the University of Nebraska at Omaha; and the University of Southern California Music School and Concert Hall.

Established in Madison in 1935, Strang Inc. is a full-service architecture, engineering, interior design and construction administration firm with projects throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest. Strang specializes in the design of performance spaces for commercial, research and development, higher education, health care, municipal, mixed use and religious facilities.

Among the firm’s local projects are the renovation of the Mineral Point Opera House in Mineral Point, Wis., and a new indoor theater for the American Players Theatre facility in Spring Green, Wis.