In a recent blog post, Washington Post music critic, Ann Midgette, posed questions concerning:
- what influence a hall’s acoustic response has on orchestral performance technique, and
- what effect the 1997 renovation of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall had in improving acoustics onstage and in the audience.
In response to the first, I can report conclusively that orchestras have great flexibility in adapting their playing to different environments. I offer a few anecdotal observations here supporting this contention and also comment on the effect of recent acoustical adjustments at Kennedy Center Concert Hall…