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The Mansion at Strathmore is situated on which surround the
colonial revival mansion built in 1899 for the Oyster family, and sold to
Charles Corby in 1908. The Mansion houses small concerts, art exhibitions, the Strathmore Tea Room, and the Shop at Strathmore. This is the original Strathmore venue and it remained so for almost 25 years. The Mansion features the 100-seat Dorothy M. and Maurice C. Shapiro Music Room. This room hosts the Music in the Mansion series with performances of chamber music, vocal and instrumental recitals, jazz and folk music. There is an 1850 Broadwood piano, restored in 1994. There are free outdoor concerts in summer, as well as the Backyard Theater for Children every Thursday morning. The art of Strathmore brings in thousands of visitors each year. There are more than two dozen exhibitions each season from local artists and from collaborations with renowned museums, such as the Baltimore Museum. The Gudelsky Gallery Suite, located at the top of the grand staircase, was named after philanthropists, Homer and Martha Gudelsky. Supported by a donation from the Gudelsky Family Foundation, this gallery features four galleries. It is the only venue of its kind in Montgomery County. There is also a Sculpture Garden that winds through the complex's . The Neo-
Georgian mansion has columned porticos, Palladian windows and a hilltop setting, It was designed by
Appleton P. Clark, Jr., and constructed in 1902 as a summer home for Captain
James F. Oyster, Mrs. James Oyster and their family. In 1908, the Oysters sold the residence and its to Charles I. Corby and his wife, Hattie. It was used as a summer home until 1914 when it was remodeled by architect Charles Keene, and became the permanent abode for the Corby family. Mr. Corby died in 1926 after acquiring nearly of surrounding land and maintaining a fully operational dairy farm and a private golf course. With the death of Mrs. Corby in 1941, the home was purchased by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1943 and became known as St. Angela Hall, serving as a convent and school. In 1977, the Sisters of the Holy Cross sold the mansion to the
American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) as a temporary headquarters. In 1979, Montgomery County purchased the property from ASHA for an Arts Center. On June 21, 1983, after major restoration of the facility, Strathmore opened its doors to the public. •
The Music Center at Strathmore, which seats 1,976, is a concert hall and education center which opened in February 2005. It was funded by a combination of State of Maryland, Montgomery County, and private corporate and local resources to provide a modern concert venue for a wide variety of musical events. Anchored by the founding partners, Strathmore and the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, resident artistic partners include the National Philharmonic, Washington Performing Arts Society, CityDance Ensemble, Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras, and Levine School of Music. The venue presents over 150 performances a year and over 75 arts and music education classes each week. Designed by William Rawn Associates Architects, Inc. of Boston along with Grimm & Parker Architects of Bethesda, MD, acousticians Kirkegaard Associates of Chicago, and Theatre Projects Consultants of South Norwalk, Connecticut, the result is a critically acclaimed venue that Tim Smith from
The Baltimore Sun proclaims a, “first-class space for music-making.”
Design and acoustics The Music Center at Strathmore features an undulating roof that outlines the sloping form of the concert hall. Inspired by the rolling hills of the Strathmore grounds, the building is nestled into an park-like setting. The German limestone façade is punctuated by large glass walls. A six-story, high glass wall in the Lockheed Martin Lobby features 402 panes of glass, and opens to the outdoor Trawick Terrace that overlooks the Strathmore campus. The concert hall was designed in the traditional “shoebox” form of many international concert halls. Above the stage, a mechanized canopy of 43 individually controlled acrylic panels can be adjusted to fine-tune sound for clarity and reverberation. Tunable sound-absorbing curtains behind the bronze grilling and banners in the ceiling can be deployed out of sight to dampen or enliven the sound. The Education Center, located at the opposite end of the building, features four expansive rehearsal spaces, including a dance studio with a sprung floor and two rehearsal rooms with high ceilings. This wing of the building also features a children’s music classroom, a small two-story rehearsal room and nine solo and small group practice spaces. ==History==