Officials of Arts Organizations Call Barclay a First-Rate Venue

Orange County arts officials whose organizations use the Irvine Barclay Theatre regularly praise it in terms of ambience, acoustics and general friendliness to presenters, performers and audiences alike.

* Erich A. Vollmer, executive director of the Orange County Philharmonic Society:

“It is an absolutely first-rate venue, particularly for chamber music. Some of the internationally known groups we’ve presented there share that opinion. The Tokyo String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio both said the Barclay is one of the finest halls they’ve ever played in anywhere. I would also rate our working relationship with the management as excellent. We’ve never had any problems whatsoever.”

* Roger Hickman, conductor of the Irvine Symphony:

“I’m very pleased with the acoustics. . . . Compared to the Orange County Performing Arts Center, there’s not a bad seat in the house. You can sit anywhere at the Barclay and get more or less the same sound. I love the acoustics at the Center, too, but you can get put in bad places, especially near the walls. That’s not true at the Barclay. The people who work there have been very kind and considerate. There are places where you perform and feel like an interloper. That is not the case there.”

* Ami Porat, director of the Mozart Camerata:

“I think it’s a wonderful theater for making music. It has a very good layout in terms of sight lines and a comfortable stage. . . . It has very honest acoustics. I would say it probably does not enhance as much as it reflects exactly what sound is being produced. Administratively, it’s very professional--extremely so, from the stagehands to the general manager.

* Molly Lynch, artistic director of Ballet Pacifica:

“Generally, my feeling is very positive. It’s a really nice theater for dance, especially for a company of our size. It suits the (repertory) we do. It has a good professional feel to it. The floor is good. It has excellent lighting equipment. The people there are very helpful.”