HSPVA’s new downtown campus is on track to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018, and we’re working tirelessly to ensure that our students have access to the tools and resources they need to further develop their artistic talents and become the best in their craft.
The HISD budget could not cover all of HSPVA’s essential arts features. Thanks to the HSPVA Friends capital campaign and the extraordinary lead gift from the Kinder Foundation, the new campus will be outfitted with all the technology and facilities HSPVA’s exemplary arts education requires.
One of the features the campaign is providing is the orchestra pit lift in the Denney Theatre. Although you can’t always see them, no musical would be complete without the live musicians in the pit! The campaign will also provide a specially-designed ceiling in the pit to absorb extra reverberations from the instruments before pushing a pure sound out into the auditorium, allowing it to flow through the entire theater. The result will be a first-class performance hall sound!
The mechanical pit will be raised and lowered as needed. When the lift is down, the pit is ready to be used in a musical performance. At floor level, extra premium seats can be added to the audience. At stage level, the pit allows the stage to extend further into the audience, giving the actors, dancers, or concert musicians more performance space.
HSPVA has always needed a pit lift, but doesn’t have one in the current campus. This easy pit access means it is now feasible for a wider range of instruments to be included in the pit orchestra. At the Montrose campus, instruments have to be carried down into the pit, which severely limits orchestration possibilities. In the new Kinder HSPVA, pianos and other large instruments such as timpani drums, basses, and harps can be loaded onto the lift at stage level and lowered into the pit, all ready for the performance!
The orchestra pit lift is one of the many features that will make the new Kinder HSPVA one of the best arts education facilities in the country. Learn more about how you can help provide HSPVA students with the new campus they need to succeed. Want to keep up with the construction progress? Check out the live webcam!
