Mondavi Center

Mondavi Center

Mondavi Center, interior view

The Mondavi Center, or Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, is a performing arts venue located on the UC Davis campus in Davis, California. It is named for arts patron and vineyard operator Robert Mondavi, who donated US$10 million to help with the building costs, and who also helped finance The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science on the same campus. The current annual operating budget is approximately US$7.3 million, 58% of which comes from earned income.

Mondavi Center opened on October 3, 2002 for the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra and today serves as a venue for various local and world-renowned musical concerts, theater, dance, lecturers and other entertainers.^[1] The façade is a large glass-panelled lobby that is surrounded by sandstone that also lines the interior walls.

Performance and other facilities

The facilities include:

• Jackson Hall, named after university professor William Jackson, whose wife Barbara Jackson donated $5 million to the project in memory of him. It seats 1,801.
• Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, named after former university Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef. It seats 250.

Architecture and design

The facility was designed by Boora Architects of Portland, Oregon as a box within a box in order to insulate the hall from the sound of the nearby freeway and train tracks. The Center also features moveable panels that can adjust the acoustics of the main hall and an orchestra shell on air casters.

Many green construction techniques were used to further the University's commitment to the environment and sustainable construction methods.^[2]

The Mondavi Center features a M'elodie Meyer Sound system for sound reinforcement. ^[3]

External links

• Mondavi Center official website
• Mondavi Center on the Davis Wiki
• Article about the Center
• The Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science
• Boora Architects website

References

1. ^ DCN and Yolo County Library (2003). "Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts". The Davis Community Network. http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/YoloLINK/programs/pMondavCenterPerfor-6632.html. Retrieved 18 September 2006. 
2. ^ BOORA Architects. "Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts". Meyer Sound Laboratories. http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/perform/03_mondavi/overview.asp. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
3. ^ Meyer Sound Laboratories Inc. (2008). "UC Davis Mondavi Center Sings with Meyer Sound M'elodie". Meyer Sound Laboratories. http://www.meyersound.com/news/2008/mondavi_center/. Retrieved 30 March 2010.