Winspear Opera House     www.attpac.com
AT&T Performing Arts Center
2403 Flora Street  Dallas, TX 75201
 
Designed by Foster + Partners under Pritzker Prize-winning architect Norman Foster, the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House is engineered specifically for performances of opera and musical theatre with its stages equipped for performances of ballet and other forms of dance.

A 21st century reinterpretation of the traditional "horseshoe" opera house, the Winspear Opera House's principal performance space, the Margaret McDermott Performance Hall, seats 2,200 (with capacity up to 2,300) and features retractable screens, a spacious fly-tower and variable acoustics. The Winspear Opera House also includes the Nancy Hamon Education and Recital Hall, a space that can be used for smaller performances seating audiences up to 200, as well as classes, rehearsals, meetings and events.

The Winspear Opera House provides state-of-the-art performance spaces for The Dallas Opera, Texas Ballet Theater, traveling Broadway productions, and numerous other performing arts organizations and touring productions that serve Dallas and the surrounding areas.

The opera house's principal entrance features the 60-foot Annette and Harold Simmons Signature Glass Façade that wraps three-quarters of the way around the building, creating transparency between the opera house and the surrounding Performance Park. The transparent façade provides dramatic views of the Margaret McDermott Performance Hall, which will be clad in vibrant red glass panels. From within the Winspear Opera House, the Simmons Glass Façade provides a sweeping view of the skyscrapers of downtown Dallas that line the northern edge of the Performance Park.

To enhance the connection with the Park, an 84-foot wide section of the glass façade is retractable to a height of 23 feet, literally opening up the Grand Lobby, Cafe and Box Circle-level restaurant to Sammons Park.

Radiating from the Winspear Opera House on all sides, the sky canopy provides shade over three acres of Sammons Park creating new outdoor spaces for visitors to gather and relax.

On-site, underground parking for the Winspear Opera House is available in the Lexus Parking areas located underneath the facility.  Additional parking is available throughout the Dallas Arts District.

Click here for directions to the Winspear Opera House

 
Bass Performance Hall     www.basshall.com
525 Commerce Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

The Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall complex is the crown jewel of a city which boasts one of the nation's largest cultural districts. It is also an important symbol of one of the most successful downtown revitalization efforts in the country.

Built entirely with private funds, Bass Performance Hall is the permanent home to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Texas Ballet Theater, Fort Worth Opera, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and Cliburn Concerts. It also hosts special productions by Casa Mañana and Performing Arts Fort Worth.

The 2,056-seat multipurpose Hall, designed by David M.Schwarz Architectural Services, Inc. with acoustics by Jaffee, Holden, Acoustics, Inc., is characteristic of the classic European opera house form.  An 80-foot diameter Great Dome, artfully painted by Scott and Stuart Gentling, tops the Founders Concert Theater.  Two 48-foot tall angels sculpted by Marton Varo from Texas limestone grace the Grand Facade.  Since the Hall opened in May 1998, the angels have become preeminent cultural icons of the entire Dallas / Fort Worth metropolitan area.  The Hall itself is renowned for its superb acoustics, exceptional sight lines and ambience that rivals the great halls of the world.

Bass Performance Hall is located on full city block encompassed by Commerce, Calhoun, 4th and 5th Streets in the historic Sundance Square district of downtown Fort Worth.  Ample free parking is available downtown after 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, and all day on the weekends.

Click here for directions to Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall