About The Anderson Center
The Anderson Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Binghamton University, State University of New York. The facility was designed by the architectural firm of Hutchins, Evans and Lefferts of New York City and opened in 1985.
The complex is designed to meet the needs of every performing group -- soloists, chamber ensembles, symphonies, dance, or large theatrical productions complemented by a full-scale orchestra. The University's Fine Arts complex, which house the Anderson Center for the Arts, provides additional spaces for the academic departments in the form of two studio theaters and the Jean Casadesus Recital Hall used by the Theater and Music Departments, respectively. This combination of small studios and large theaters creates a versatile setting that is both intimate and spectacular, integrating music, dance, drama, and the visual arts, while serving the academic needs of the University as well as the region.
Light from numerous glass panels permeates the foyer where rust and terra cotta colors blend with neutral tones to recapture the warm red of the exterior brick walls. The glass panels form a structure unique to the Anderson Center-a retractable wall at the back of the large Osterhout Concert Theater. To afford a special summer evening experience for hundreds of people, this sliding glass wall opens onto a sloping knoll, a man-made amphitheater extension to the Osterhout Concert Theater, provided with its own sound equipment to enhance open-air listening. When the glass wall is retracted, the interior acoustic wall separating the Osterhout Concert Theater from the lobby area can be moved manually to give the outdoor audience a view of the stage.
The curvilinear structure of the Box Office, elevator, and stairways in the lobby are mirrored throughout the design of the house. Great swirls of suspended acoustical clouds sweep across the ceiling, complemented by the grand curve of continental seating below. With a capacity of 1200 (including space for 24 wheelchair patrons), the Theater presents a sophisticated ambiance. The curved walls in increasingly darker shades of gray draw the eye of the audience to the stage and the vivid terra cotta velour of the act curtain.
OUR MISSION:
The Anderson Center for the Arts is a facility as well as a program.
The facility includes three theaters (Osterhout Concert Theater, Chamber Hall, and Watters Theater) and is available for on-campus and off-campus usage as a presenting house for disparate purposes — the primary one being theatrical/musical performance. The staff of the Center schedules and operates the physical facilities and — in concert with the University administrative offices and academic departments (particularly Theatre and Music) and in concert with a myriad of varied rental programs from the community — presents performances, conferences, and meetings for the University and the Southern Tier of New York State. The role of the Center ranges from assisting users by providing services such as house, technical and box office services to full promotion and presentation.
The Anderson Center as a program consists of all presentations by its varied users, one of which is the Centers own administration which books outside music/theater/dance performances as part of a major world class concert series for the region. This series has, in the main, an international profile underscoring the University's emphasis on diversity — therefore, global concerns.
Contact Information
Phone & Fax
Tel: 607.777.6802
Fax: 607.777.6771
Box Office: 607.777.ARTS
Mailing Address
The Anderson Center for the Arts
Binghamton University
State University of New York
PO Box 6000
Binghamton, New York 13902-6000
Directions to the Anderson Center
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