$64-million performance hall coming to Orange’s Chapman University

A new $64-million performance hall is coming to the campus of Chapman University in Orange County. The multi-purpose space is expected to begin construction in early 2013 with a completion set for fall 2015, according to William Hall, dean of the school’s College of Performing Arts.

The new space will have a capacity of 1,050 seats and will be built to accommodate various types of performances, including theater and classical music. The private university has hired famed acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, who also worked on Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Toyota’s lengthy resume also includes the Soka Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2011 in south Orange County.

A spokeswoman at Chapman said that the school has raised the $64 million through private donations. The school received a challenge grant of $25 million from an anonymous donor, she said.

The fundraising effort was chaired by arts patrons Sebastian Paul Musco and his wife, Marybelle. Musco is a founder of Gemini Industries, a precious metals and refining company located in Santa Ana. He serves as a board member of Los Angeles Opera and as a trustee of PBS SoCal.

A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 6, with tenor Placido Domingo expected to attend. L.A.’s Pfeiffer Partners Architects has designed the new building, which will be located near the center of the campus, at Glassell Street and Sycamore Avenue.

The center will occupy a site that used to contain a student apartment complex, a shopping center and office spaces, which have since been demolished.

The construction project will feature a courtyard leading up to the new building, including a mini rotunda.

The new building is being called the Center for the Arts, but a more formal name will be revealed at a later date.

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