ON THE NIGHT of the premiere performance, the glazed lobby of Utah State University's new performance hall will project a spotlight on the geometric 3-D sculpture that forms its interior wall, and light the plaza outside like a blazing lantern. The visually bewitched will then be led to the main door along one of the textured concrete pathways that radiates out from the entryway to the curb.

The moment they enter the hall, the 400 music patrons who purchase tickets to the concert will be sheltered from all distractions. Eighteen-inch-thick concrete walls, adjustable curtains and canopies, and muffled sound, heating and electrical systems will insulate them from all sound except for the poetic, energetic piano playing of Jean-Efflam Bavouzet as he treats everyone in the audience to the same acoustically sublime performance. Every seat in the house is situated for a shared understanding of why Bavouzet earned rave reviews for his performances with the Boston Symphony and London Philharmonic.

This attention to acoustical detail is exactly what donors Manon Caine Russell '53 and her sister Kathryn Caine Wanlass '38Att had in mind when they made the second largest private gift in university history. Deeply involved in the project from preliminary architectural planning to grand opening, the sisters envisioned a hall that would evoke the best in student and visiting performers, elevating the level of public performance for the enrichment of the entire region. Having grown up in Logan, Utah, in a highly educated and culturally sophisticated household, the sisters wanted to give students what their parents took great pains to instill in them - a lifelong appreciation of the arts. Exposed to the most famous performers and artists of the day at a young age, they have traveled the world and patronized its most renowned concert halls and art museums.

That knowledge is reflected in the performance hall itself. "A great performance hall has the same qualities as a fine instrument," says musician-in-residence Russell Fallstad. "The hall itself amplifies the sound, bringing the base, the treble and mid-ranges into perfect balance." As the violist in the Fry Street Quartet, Fallstad has performed on university campuses nationwide and in Israel and Europe. He compares the Manon Caine Russell Kathryn Caine Wanlass Performance Hall to the chamber music hall in New York City's Carnegie. "Our hall is a Stradivarius," he says. more