Mills College
For seven decades, Mills College in Oakland has nurtured a remarkable number of cutting-edge composers. The faculty has included Luciano Berio, Darius Milhaud and Terry Riley. Among the students have been Dave Brubeck, Morton Subotnick, William Bolcom and Steve Reich. Consequently, the concert hall on the Oakland foothills campus has echoed with game-changing music. Nicole Paiement conducts a chorus in the newly renovated hall, which will be reinaugurated with a monthlong series of concerts beginning Feb. 21. (Dave Getzschman / For The Times)
The Spanish-style concert hall is decorated with frescoes and murals by California painter Raymond Boynton. The works have been freshened as part of the renovation. Here, guest conductor Nicole Paiement leads a chorus of students, alumni and staff. (Dave Getzschman / For The Times)
A mural glows with life as a chorus rehearses in the concert hall, renamed the Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Concert Hall after the longtime Northern California philanthropist. (Dave Getzschman / For The Times)
An 18-month renovation added acoustic panels, improved the seating layout and enhanced soundproofing. (Dave Getzschman / For The Times)
History hums in the very walls of Mills College, which was founded in 1852 in the Bay Area community of Benicia and moved to Oakland in 1871. Raymond Boynton’s concert-hall murals, at once timelessly classical and as up-to-the-minute as life on the Oakland hills outside, almost seem to evoke this rich past. (Dave Getzschman / For The Times)
Mills’ concert hall resonated with the premieres of many important 20th century pieces, including Luciano Berios Folk Songs. Only time will reveal what future works will reverberate off the new acoustic panels. (Dave Getzschman / For The Times)
Mills’ 1928 concert hall, designed by California architect Walter Ratcliff Jr., is reopening after an $11-million renovation. A six-concert series marks the event, beginning with a Feb. 21 gala that will feature performances by instrumentalist-composers Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley and Joan Jeanrenaud. (Dave Getzschman / For The Times)
An apropos Turkish proverb greets visitors to Jeannik Méquet Littlefield Concert Hall. If tradition holds, the music inside will point them toward the future. (Dave Getzschman / For The Times)
