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July 22, 2003
Pittsburgh, PA--The Sextant Group has received the Historic Preservation Award from the City of Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission for acoustic renovation of Carnegie Mellon University's Alumni Concert Hall. In bestowing the honor on the Sextant Group, the Historic Review Commission recognized the Sextant Group's balance of modern developments in acoustical science with the traditions and heritage of one of CMU's oldest and finest campus buildings.
The historic venue was originally built by Andrew Carnegie as an art gallery and remodeled years ago as a concert/rehearsal space for the college's College of Fine Arts and its symphony orchestra. Plagued by acoustical problems since a 1960s-era renovation, the hall suffered from massive sound reflection that greatly restricted its use. The Sextant Group's solution involved custom design of structures that would not only solve those problems and bestow new acoustic value to the room, but also restore and enhance the visual aesthetic of the original gallery's performance space
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In speaking of the renovation, Alan Fletcher, head of Carnegie Mellon School of Music, said, "The Sextant Group transformed what was unusable space into one of the most sought-after rooms on campus. The hall was an absolutely poor acoustic space before renovation and virtually unusable, even for rehearsals. Now it is the first choice for master classes and recitals. The Alumni Hall is now central to the CMU music ensemble program, and a favorite location on campus."
Fletcher further commented, "The Sextant Group was absolutely first-rate. Not only were they wonderful listeners and completely responsive to what we needed, but were proactive and creative in recommendations. Altogether, a very happy experience."
The work was performed directly for Carnegie Mellon University, in close cooperation with Tom Stephenson of Landmark Design Associates. The Sextant Group also designed Carnegie Mellon's music engineering recording studio for the College of Fine Arts.
The Sextant Group
www.thesextantgroup.com
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