Photo via Lion Performance Hall - Facebook
Lion Performance Hall
Lion Performance Hall's stage
Confession: I love chamber music and when I learned that there was a new venue in the area, Lion Performance Hall, especially designed for concerts by small groups, I figuratively jumped up and did a gigue. When I read the details—A 1898 church in Richfield converted by musicians for musicians with the main hall designed with the help of an acoustical engineer—I was even more delighted.
Musicians Sacia Jerome (cello) and Theodore Koth (guitar and vocalist), saw the need for a small concert hall that can showcase chamber groups and also host local singer/songwriters and storyteller configurations in the greater Milwaukee area. They searched for years before finding the old church which they realized would provide a perfect setting—once the necessary work and additions were done.
Sound, of course, was their main consideration. They searched the Chicago–Milwaukee area and engaged Riedel & Associates, acoustical consultants, from Milwaukee to design the treatments in the main hall. RealAcoustix, out of Ogden, Utah did the fabrication. The main hall has a flexible capacity for 80-100 people. The church’s stained-glass windows add to the ambience.
Steinway Grand
With the help of Tom Zasadny at Premier Piano Services in Walker, IA. they located and completely restored a 1967 Steinway Model B (7' Grand). Koth attests that “The clarity and strength of the piano really shines in our hall. It will provide the perfect accompaniment for any chamber situation while also providing a key element to our secondary function; a prime recording space.”
The main hall will also provide recording possibilities both for professional musicians as well as young musicians needing to submit audition recordings to schools, competitions, and professional groups worldwide.
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One of the primary goals of Lion Performance Hall, according to Jerome and Koth, is to support local music education. Local music teachers as well as primary and secondary educators, would be able to rent the hall for their concerts and recitals. Lecture series and “storytelling” concerts will also be able to utilize the Hall further enriching the community.
And since it’s a challenge to live solely on music, Koth added, “We do offer the hall for rental, for events that do not center around music performance. We are reaching out to catering companies to build relationships, and our zoning in the Village of Richfield does allow for food trucks. Sacia and I hope to be able to offer tented events in the green space we own right next door to Lion Performance Hall, maybe in the year to come.”
But on a musical note, Theodore and Jerome are Cordes de Lion, a cello/guitar duo that performs all throughout Wisconsin.
There will be an open house 1-4 p.m. Sunday, June 29 at Lion Performance Hall, 1786 WI -175, Richfield. The inaugural concert will be on July 11, at 7 p.m. The Skyline Trio will perform Beethoven Trio in Bb “Archduke” Op. 97 and Mendelssohn Trio in C minor, Op. 66. The second concert will feature Grammy Nominated, Polka Hall of Fame inductee Alex Meixner playing music from around the world. Koth and Sacia will join him on stage.
