Education was a central selling point in getting public backing for the project. In December, nearly every second-grader in a Montgomery County public school -- about 10,000 children in all -- was bused to the complex over three days to hear classical performances. And that is just the start, Pfanstiehl has pledged.
Pfanstiehl, Zamoiski, Duncan and Lyons helped knit together donors and political backers who sustained the dream of a concert hall, even through several nasty political skirmishes over the hall's ballooning cost. In 2003, with construction underway, Duncan threatened to mothball the project when Montgomery County Council members balked at nearly $10 million in cost overruns.
Guests arrive for the opening of the Music Center at Strathmore by crossing a walkway from a parking garage over Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma was the featured act.
(Rich Lipski -- The Washington Post)
|
_____Photo Gallery_____
•
An Evening at the Strathmore: The new Music Center is one in a growing list of suburban performing arts centers in the metro area and across the country.
_____Graphics_____
•
Arts in the Suburbs
•
Strathmore at a Glance
_____How to Get There_____
•
Driving Directions
_____More on Strathmore_____
•
Music -- and Competition -- in the Air (The Washington Post, Feb 6, 2005)
•
One Handsome Hall (The Washington Post, Feb 4, 2005)
•
At Strathmore, Suburbs Take Another Bow (The Washington Post, Feb 3, 2005)
•
Sale of Land Hits Wrong Chord for Strathmore (The Washington Post, Feb 3, 2005)
•
The Arts, From Classroom to Concert Hall (The Washington Post, Feb 3, 2005)
•
Close to Strathmore, Some Show-Stopping Meals (The Washington Post, Feb 3, 2005)
•
Strathmore's Hidden Assets (The Washington Post, Jan 30, 2005)
|
| |
_____Wammies at Strathmore_____
•
The Music Center at Strathmore hosts the Washington Music Awards on Monday, Feb. 7, starting at 8 p.m.
•
Transcript: WAMA president Mike Schreibman and Shelley Brown, vice president of programming at the Music Center at Strathmore, discussed the Wammies.
|
| |
|
"There were a lot of ups and downs, obviously," Duncan said. "But from the beginning [this project] was unique. This is something that's going to last 100-plus years. We had to do it right because we knew the benefits would be measured out over lifetimes."
There's no question that providing the Baltimore Symphony with a second home -- and 40 dates in Montgomery County -- is emblematic of a broad demographic shift in Maryland, said Michael Mael, vice president of the orchestra at Strathmore. But that shift is less about Baltimore's shrinking stature than it is about the significant expansion of the Washington suburbs. Mael said Strathmore's audience will hail not only from Montgomery but from Prince George's, Frederick and Howard counties, as well as from parts of the District and Virginia.
"This area has considerable wealth and one of the most educated workforces in the country, and it has seen extraordinary growth," Mael said. "It has stopped being a place where people live just because they commute to D.C."
David Phillips, director of the Lockheed Martin Foundation, and chairman of Strathmore's board, said he believes there is room for many types of performance venues in the Washington area. "We are really contributing to things that build communities, increase civility and foster creative thinking," Phillips said. Among the largest corporate donors to the music center were Lockheed Martin, the Marriott Foundation and Chevy Chase Bank. Divisions of The Washington Post Co., including The Gazette, gave $1 million.
Pfanstiehl said pre-season ticket sales have been brisk. A Feb. 20 concert with violinist Itzhak Perlman sold out quickly, and several others are reporting healthy sales, he said.
"I feel like the father of the bride," he said. "I can't wait until the wedding is over, and we can get on with the marriage."
