The iconic ANU School of Music building at the edge of campus between Childers and Marcus Clarke streets was originally envisaged as a very different building. The home of the Llewellyn Hall - which fascinates visitors with its unusual shapes, unexpected angles and broad balconies - was never intended to become Canberra's premier concert hall, until a concertmaster named Ernest Llewellyn raised his hand.

The Canberra School of Music (CSM) was opened in 1965 under the direction of Llewellyn, who had recently retired as concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The CSM was then based at the former Mothercraft Centre in Manuka, in the city’s inner south. But this venue soon proved too small, prompting a need for expansion.

According to the original architect of the ANU School of Music, Daryl Jackson, he was briefed to design a building that would encompass teaching and administration rooms as well as a performance space similar to the style of a high school hall. “It was not meant to be Canberra’s premier concert hall,” Jackson says. “But Ernest Llewellyn was the principal of an emerging school of music and he drove the idea of it up to become a major hall, suitable for serious music.”

The school’s original Executive Officer, William Hoffmann, believes the change was a stroke of genius on the part of Llewellyn. “The Department of Education had approved plans for a theatre for students’ performance practice,” Hoffmann says. “But [Llewellyn] also talked the department into approving a 1,400 seat auditorium which was a bit big for a practice theatre. And of course when the building was finished it became, not only a teaching theatre, as it said on the plans, but it brought all the concert performers in and became the central concert hall of Canberra.”

Jackson also argues that the people of Canberra owe Llewellyn a great debt. “The final space could be used for recording, used by ABC orchestras, and used as a performance space for music of all types from small group playing to major orchestral and large choir performances.”

Throughout the design process Jackson worked closely with acoustic architect Gerald Riley to ensure that the interior of the hall would produce the best resonance from performers on the stage. “Gerald said that to get the acoustic performance right, a third of the seats needed to be in an upper gallery so we incorporated that,” Jackson says.

Jackson has been living and travelling in Europe and the United States for five years prior to taking on the project and had attended performances at some of the great spaces in New York and London. He says this helped him understand what Llewellyn and Riley were trying to achieve. “I benefited simply from the fact that I had become an experienced listener,” he says.

“In a performance hall that size, Ernest and Gerald wanted there to be a sea of faces to absorb the sound and to give a feeling of engagement between performer and spectator so we brought everyone closer to the stage on both the upper and lower levels. Since the building was opened people have enjoyed the intimacy of the hall with its fairly large size stage and its capability to have a large size orchestra and choir. The interpretation of music has been very well received.”

Despite the care that went into crafting the interior of the hall, the highlight for Jackson is the building’s exterior. “The sculptural form of it brings a lively exterior face to the building,” he says.

“We populated it on the northern side with the offices and teaching spaces which wrap around the hall, so you see that wrap and windows and activity of the people within. That makes for a pleasing building. What I’m pleased about is really that the exterior key faces are invitational. They invite entry and profess to say to people that this is for you, it’s your building and you’re welcome to come in.”

The Canberra School of Music Hall officially opened in October 1976 with three days of gala concerts over a long weekend. Hoffmann recalls that some of the top orchestral performers in the country were on the School of Music staff, having followed Llewellyn to Canberra when he resigned from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. “The staff performed on the Friday followed by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and the choral society on the Saturday,” Hoffman says. “The performances really showed off what the hall could do.”
Four years after it originally opened, the hall was renamed in honour of Ernest Llewellyn when he retired from his position as Director of the Canberra School of Music. In 1988 the School amalgamated with the Canberra School of Art to become the Canberra Institute of the Arts and in 1992 both were fully integrated into the University.

For almost 32 years, the space now known as Llewellyn Hall hosted orchestras, choirs and operatic artists from around Australia and the world, including the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra, the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra of the former USSR Ministry of Culture. But on Tuesday 27 February 2007, Canberra was hit with a super-cell hailstorm, which damaged 60 buildings across the ANU campus including the School of Music and Llewellyn Hall.

As the slow process of repair began, the decision was taken to incorporate a refurbishment of the hall into the process. As well as aesthetic improvements, 30 years of advancements in acoustic engineering technology mean that clearer sounds can be obtained from a redeveloped performance space.

Daryl Jackson Architects were again engaged to oversee the refurbishment in partnership with current School of Music Director John Luxton and acoustic consultants Arup. “We all feel we could get a better listening performance if the tiering of the ground floor seats was steeper with better views of the stage,” Jackson says. “In doing that we could also enhance the sound qualities by placing timber reflector panels.

“The hall will take on the feeling of it being a timber instrument. It’s in honey-coloured natural Australian timbers. The floor will be a timber instrument. You get the idea of another form inside the existing masonry form.
“There’s a new ceiling, offering a more handsome opportunity for the eye to focus on the players and we’ve painted the ceiling dark inside. That’s bringing about a shift of ground to focus people in on the performance and to feel as if they’re actually in the orchestra, as much as sitting apart from that. That’s the feeling I’ve been getting when I’ve walked around there as the renovations have taken place.”

As Canberra performers line up to test their skills in the new space, Llewellyn’s legacy will once again live on as the revamped hall returns to its place as Canberra’s premier performance venue.

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ANU Reporter 
Autumn 2008