In 1997, the Music Associates of Aspen
selected Harry Teague Architects and
an acoustical consultant to propose
strategies for an overall facility
improvement of the 1964 Bayer-
Benedict Music Tent. Among the
complaints shared by audience and
performers alike were a canvas that
leaked during rainstorms, long lines at
public restrooms during intermissions
and cramped conditions in the
backstage building. The design team’s
primary objective, however, was to
improve the vastly deficient acoustical
performance of the tent.

The new design includes tent fabric
supported by a disk-shaped steel
frame, 100 feet in diameter and
elliptical in section, the center of which
is located 48 ft above the audience. The
top surface of the disc is clad in wood
and glass panels, providing the desired
sound reflectivity for the audience while
allowing for light infiltration. The tent
fabric, a state-of-the-art Teflon coated
glass-fibre, in conjunction with the steel
disc, is engineered to withstand Aspen’s
heavy snow loads and remains in place
year-round.

To satisfy the need for greater height
between the performance platform and
its overhead canopy while remaining
within the existing envelope, HTA
lowered the performance platform
seven feet below the existing stage.
This choice had the added benefit of
placing the stage at the same level as
the backstage basement.

In spite of the use of very advanced
technology and sophisticated
engineering, the new design continues
to combine elements of the previous
Herbert Bayer and Eero Saarinen tents
and retains their relaxed informality and
communal ambiance.

As the Music Tent is the heart of the
Summer Music Festival, performance
schedules dictated an exceptionally
unyeilding construction period. All work
had to take place between Festival
seasons. Scheduling construction with
precision and expertise, Harry Teague
Architects and the contractor completed
this one-of-a-kind civic project within
the given nine-month timeframe.