Overture Center for the Arts

Overture Center for the Arts is a performing arts center and art gallery in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. The center opened on September 19, 2004, replacing the former Civic Center. In addition to several theaters, the center also houses the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

History

The center was commissioned by Jerome Frautschi, designed by Cesar Pelli, and built by J.H. Findorff and Son. Frautschi paid $205 million to construct the building, making it the largest private gift to the arts of its kind. It was intended to replace the Madison Civic Center, located on the same block on State Street. Its first President/CEO was Robert B. D'Angelo, followed by Michael Goldberg, Tom Carto and Ted DeDee.

Venues

The building has seven venues, in addition to art galleries:

Overture Hall

The 2251-seat Overture Hall is the facility's largest theater. Consisting of four levels of seats, it has a striking architectural style. The balconies have "continental-style" seating arrangements, where aisles other than those on the sides of seat rows are omitted in order to provide greater seat size. It houses a large, permanent organ by the German organ builder Klais. The Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, and Madison Ballet call this theater home. In addition to local Madison performing groups, touring performances have played in Overture Hall; comedian Jerry Seinfeld and musician Yo-Yo Ma are examples of nationally famous performers who have appeared here.