Old Cabell Hall Auditorium

Old Cabell Hall Auditorium was constructed in 1898 as a lecture hall for the university. It was not originally intended as a performance space and does not have many of the amenities normally associated with theaters (including a backstage and dressing rooms). The Auditorium seats 846 people and houses the oldest, original condition, original location Skinner organ in the world.  Demand for the use of this historic space is very high and presents many challenges for the Music Department. Music faculty are expected to abide by the Auditorium policies and to cooperate fully with the Director of Music Production in using the Auditorium. All exemptions from policies must be approved by the Chair.

Other than certain special events, the Music Department and its departmental ensembles have priority in booking dates. Most of our departmental ensembles hold their concerts in OCH Auditorium. In addition to the approximately 250 public events per year, the auditorium is also used for large ensemble classes (Symphony and USingers), so the scheduling of concerts, master classes and dress rehearsals is extremely tight. The Director of Music Production oversees all aspects of Auditorium use, including:

• the allocation of concert and rehearsal dates
• the administration of Auditorium contracts
• supervising the Recording Techs and House Managers
• acquisition and maintenance of recording equipment, chairs, and stands; arranging for piano tunings
• arranging Auditorium maintenance
• arranging the use of special instruments, such as the Skinner organ, the portative organ, harpsichords, and grand pianos

Contracts and Fees

If you are the person responsible for an event that you want to take place in the OCH Auditorium, you must fill out and sign an OCH Auditorium Contract (http://music.virginia.edu/booking and appendix) and return it to the Director of Music Production before your event/reservation can be approved and your event can be listed on the Music Department calendar. This typically takes place in mid- to late August. There is a base fee for the use of the Auditorium. Any event, concert, masterclass, open rehearsal, colloquium, lecture, seminar, clinic, training session, etc., except classes that list their location in SIS as the OCH Auditorium, must pay to use the Auditorium. For an event happening during class time, anyone who is not on the UVA student roster for that specific class is considered “the public.” If a professor invites anyone other than the students on his class roster to attend a class in the Auditorium, the class becomes a public event, requires a contract, and will be assessed fees. Beyond the base fee, additional fees for items such as House Managers, piano use and tuning, extra stands and chairs, etc., are calculated on an a la carte basis in the OCH Auditorium contract. Every contracted event requires at least one House Manager. The House Managers are hired and trained by the Director of Music Production based on Fire Marshal and UVA Risk Management guidelines. They are not stage managers, and do not set up equipment or do stage changes for the performers.

Ticketing

• UVA Arts Box Office
• If tickets are to be sold for an event, there is an additional fee for the UVA Arts Box Office. Arts Box Office contracts are posted at: http://music.virginia.edu/booking. The Arts Box Office fee is on a sliding scale, depending on the volume of tickets sold.

Ticket Prices

Ticket prices are regulated by the Chair and the Dean’s Office. Because we are a not-for-profit organization, ticket sales may only be used to offset expenses. Once approved, we use those same ticket prices from year to year. Changes to ticket prices must be proposed to the Chair and Department Finance and Administration Manager by mid-February of the year preceding the affected concert season (e.g., around February 15, 2017, for any concert in the 2017-18 season).

Proposals for a decrease or increase in ticket prices, as well as a request to sell tickets for an event that has never sold tickets, must include:

• Reason and justification for request (why do you want to increase, decrease, or charge?)
• A statement on the impact an increase, decrease or charging tickets would have on attendance
• Dollar amount of ticket price you are proposing
• How the ticket income will be spent
• Projected expenditures
• Projected income
• If you are proposing to sell tickets for a new event or for an event that has not normally sold tickets, please include a comparison of prices to similar events in the Charlottesville area.

Complimentary Tickets

Music faculty can pick up two complimentary tickets to any Music Department event on the night of the show (if they don’t mind standing in line), or they can call the Arts Box Office in advance (924-3376) and have tickets put in will call under their name. Ensemble directors can arrange for a reasonable number of complimentary tickets for their ensemble’s event in consultation with the Director of Music Production, to be used by ensemble members. All complimentary ticket lists from the ensemble director must be turned in to the Director of Music Production no later than the day before the show (or by 4:00 pm on Friday for Saturday and Sunday events).

Allocated Auditorium Time and Dress Rehearsals

Generally, each event is allocated up to seven hours in the auditorium (including dress rehearsal, concert set up and break down) before extra fees begin to be assessed, but that availability is not guaranteed and is subject to potential scheduling conflicts. A dress rehearsal may or may not be possible in the Auditorium, depending on scheduling conflicts. Dress rehearsals need to be scheduled with the Director of Music Production.

Dressing Rooms

We use room B012 as the dressing room for our large departmental ensembles, and other teaching and rehearsal rooms on the lower level (B017, B019, B020) as our dressing rooms for smaller ensembles. All dressing room doors should be locked and closed whenever the room is unattended. We have had numerous thefts of Music Department equipment as well as personal property of faculty, staff and students so please be extremely thoughtful when it comes to locking the doors.

Note: Dressing rooms are not automatically assigned and must be requested separately from the signing of the OCH Auditorium contract. They should be secured as far in advance as possible (several months is desirable). You should contact the Administrative Assistant to reserve dressing rooms.

Other Auditorium Rules and Issues

Lights

No one can move, gel, focus, or adjust the stage lights in Old Cabell Hall Auditorium. Any event needing specialized lighting will need to hire a lighting contractor.

Air Conditioning Fans (Blowers)

Don’t turn the blowers off except for very quiet dress rehearsals and performances. Always turn the blowers back on when the event is done (even though the blowers automatically turn back on in three hours). If someone has allowed the blowers to reset automatically rather than turning them back on, the blowers will be running while the toggle switch is still in the “off” position. When this happens turn the toggle switch back to the “on” position.

Stage Pianos

We have one Steinway D concert grand piano and one Bösendörfer 225 concert grand piano in OCH Auditorium. The Auditorium pianos are always kept locked when not being used. Only official class accompanists and pianists in concerts that have paid the piano use fee can use the Auditorium pianos. For concerts whose budget cannot afford to pay the Auditorium piano use fee, we can move an upright piano onto the stage. Make sure to have extra care when/if moving a piano. We have had problems with damage to the walls, the piano closet door and doorknob, as well as the pianos’ bodies due to accidents while moving. When moving a large piano, please remember that once it is rolling, inertia makes it hard to stop quickly!

Food and Drink

Old Cabell Hall, constructed in 1898 by the architect Stanford White, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It contains valuable and important works of art and it houses an irreplaceable, historic Skinner pipe organ. No food or drink is allowed in OCH Auditorium at any time (this includes feeding performers at a rehearsal). Receptions may be held in the lobby with the pre-approval of the Director of Music Production. Catering services must be pre-approved. Food and drink must be kept a safe distance from the lobby murals at all times. Alcohol may only be served in the lobby in accordance with the UVA alcohol policy (this includes submitting an online Approval Request for Use of Alcoholic Beverages form, http://www.virginia.edu/vpsa/alcohol_request_intro.php) and with the pre-approval of the Director of Music Production.

Using the Lobby and Other Public Areas of Old Cabell Hall

The OCH Auditorium and the OCH Lobby are inextricably linked. Due to safety regulations, the Auditorium cannot be used if the lobby is unavailable. Therefore, any request to use “only the OCH Lobby” is treated the same as a request to use the OCH Auditorium and will require the same contract and incur the same rental fees.

Department ensembles wishing to have audition signup sheets in the lobby must get their tables approved in advance and must remove the tables in a timely fashion when auditions have ended.

Advertising in and around Old Cabell Hall

• The Department Poster Display Boards (in the lobby next to the Music Office) – Only Music Department and Affiliated Groups may post on these boards. All items posted on these boards must be specifically approved by the Director of Promotions.
• Public Bulletin Boards – There are three public bulletin boards (in front of the piano studios, in front of the VCCM, and in front of the Music Library). Anyone may post information on these boards.
• No posters, flyers, signboards, leafleting or displays of any kind are allowed inside or outside the building (including in the bathrooms, on the porch, the pillars, the lampposts, the front steps, the sidewalk surrounding the Lawn, and the Lawn) except in the two places listed above.
• The only tabling or advertising allowed on the lawn must be sanctioned by Newcomb Hall and must take place on the northwest corner of the sidewalk of the Lower Lawn.

Brooks Hall Commons

Brooks Hall Commons (BHC) is a student lounge in the Anthropology Department (http://anthropology.virginia.edu/brookshall/). The Music Department is one of two organizations that are part of a trial program that allows us the opportunity to schedule events in BHC. BHC is available to us from Friday evening through Sunday night. All scheduling must be done with the Music Department Director of Music Production and requires a contract similar to the OCH Auditorium contract.

The only Music Department property that is stored in BHC is a Steinway Concert Grand B (and bench). Any other Music Department equipment (chairs, stands, instruments, amplifiers, speakers, etc.) that an ensemble wishes to use must be approved in advance with the Music Department, following the same guidelines that are used any time equipment is taken from OCH (see Instruments / Equipment). The ensemble director is in charge of transporting the equipment both to BHC and then back to OCH immediately after the event.

The BHC does not have a base rental fee like the OCH Auditorium, but all events using BHC must have the budget to pay for two House Managers. In addition, the Brooks Hall piano has the same piano use fee as the pianos in the OCH Auditorium.

We are guests at BHC. Amongst other activities, the House Managers are in charge of monitoring the condition of BHC, monitoring building security (Brooks Hall is generally closed on the weekends), enforcing Fire Marshal and Risk Management rules, and acting as representatives of the Music Department with audience members. They are not hired as stage managers, equipment movers, or roadies. If your event has those needs, you will need to hire additional staff to handle those activities.

There are sixteen pieces of upholstered furniture and six tables in BHC that must be moved before the 75 audience chairs can be set up. The Anthropology Department has mandated a very strict room restoration policy. The ensemble director and the students involved in the performance must help the House Managers move this furniture before the concert and then help put it back after the concert.

**Any further questions regarding the use of OCH Auditorium or Brooks Hall Commons should be addressed to the Director of Music Production.**