Chapman University has received a gift of $25 million to build a new 1,300-seat performing arts center on its campus in Orange, California. The anonymous gift was announced at the university’s annual Sholund Scholarship Concert on May 9; the university says it is confident that it will be able to raise the remaining $25 million needed to complete the project. Plans for the center include rehearsal space for the more than 700 students enrolled in Chapman’s recently established College of Performing Arts. When completed, the performing arts center is expected to be the county’s second-largest, behind the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The designer for the project will be Pfeiffer Partners, whose other performing arts centers include the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in Anchorage, the Hult Center in Eugene, Oregon, and the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Georgia. The university plans to use the space for student concerts, recitals, operas, musicals, plays, and dance performances; the center also is expected to present professional touring shows.
Posted May 12, 2009
