Foellinger Great Hall, with 2,078 seats, is the largest of the venues at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and is known for its acoustics; it attracts world famous artists and ensembles to perform every year. Noteworthy orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony have used the hall for recordings.

 

Dr. Cyril Harris, a noted acoustician and Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Columbia University designed the interior of the Foellinger Great Hall. His past projects include the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and Powell Symphony Hall in St. Louis. Later projects include the mid-1970s renovation of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center and the late-1990s design of Benaroya Hall in Seattle. The design of the hall is almost perfectly symmetrical. There are no parallel surfaces in the room; instead all the surfaces are angled to ensure that the sound reflects back to the audience. This accounts for much of the hall's acoustic superiority. No amplification is necessary for instrumental music.

 

"Just the Krannert Center itself is one of the most amazing facilities in the country, college or professional." 

-Nick Offerman, UIUC Commencement Address, May 2017

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Those who perform in Foellinger Great Hall say 'hear, here!'

-Dusty Rhodes, Daily Illini, July 19 2012