This story by Tim Calabro and Reilly Laware was first published by the White River Valley Herald on Feb. 8.
Chandler Music Hall is putting the final touches on a yearlong renovation project that should bring the Randolph hall back to its full glory.
According to executive director Chloe Powell, who took the Chandler reins last February, the decision to touch up the hall came just before she arrived on the scene when plaster restoration began, patching cracks in the interior walls.
“I stepped into this very big project,” Powell said.
In January and February 2023, that plasterwork to repair major cracks was completed throughout the main hall by Sally Fishborne, funded by a pair of grants, one from the state and the other from the Preservation Trust of Vermont.
That would have been a perfect time to get the hall painted, Powell said, since scaffolding was already up along each wall, however, it proved difficult to find contractors at the time. With Chandler’s season kicking off soon, the next phase had to be postponed.
Members of the audience had to deal with a mid-construction aesthetic last year, but the work this January and February fixed all that. The hall was again closed for renovations, and with support from the Vermont Community Foundation and private donors, the hall was repainted. The Preservation Trust of Vermont pointed Chandler staffer Iris Delgado toward Acorn Painting. That contractor set to work and collaborated with Sherry Senior of Burlington, who took on the decorative painting aspects, recreating the delicate stenciling and patterns throughout the hall.
“Having the hall look beautiful and professional gives an audience a good feeling about coming to a show,” Powell said.
She added that an anonymous check through the Vermont Community Foundation helped with the painting costs.
Painting has not been the only work going on at Chandler.
Additionally, a grant from the Vermont Arts Council, matched by private donors, facilitated acoustic upgrades to the hall. That includes the purchase of a new line array speaker system and Andrea Easton’s creation of new curtains for the windows near the hall’s ceiling, with a “kind of scalloped design” around the arced window. That, Powell said, will help to isolate outside sound.
Also packed into the winter’s projects has been an effort to replace the well-worn stage floor.
A grant from Gifford Medical Center’s Philip Levesque fund covered that job and carpenters spent the past week tearing up old plywood and getting a new floor installed.
Powell noted that the stage floor had seen a lot of traffic over the decades and had put up a fight as contractors started removing pieces. Tom McNeil, who was on site Monday said there was about a sixteenth of an inch of built-up paint on the surface of the stage floor, which made locating screws and nails nearly impossible.
The plywood floor is being replaced with medium-density fiberboard, which accepts paint very well and provides for softer acoustics.
“We’re in a rush to get it done before Saturday,” Powell said, noting the first shows of the season would begin this weekend.
In total, the various projects cost around $175,000, she said, with about $40,000 going toward the acoustic specific upgrades.
Chandler’s looking pretty splendid for the season’s start, but Powell said there’s still plenty of work to be done on the old building.
“There’s a big list!”
For example, during the painting a leak in the roof developed. It’s been patched, but that will need to be addressed in a more permanent way. She’d also like some attention given to the green room, where performers gather before going on stage for a show.
“We’re not done,” Powell said, but having Chandler feel again like “a grand hall” better matches the caliber of artists being brought in, she said.
Whether people are there to see a professional show or kids performing in the summer musical or the community up there for the mud season talent show, the renovation gives the hall “a feeling of the prestige it deserves,” she said.
“I’m so grateful for all the community support that has helped pull this together,” Powell said. “And people should come to the Chandler for a show and check it out!”
Upcoming shows
Chandler’s gallery opened last weekend with a fiber-arts celebration of color. The show, titled “Trichromancy: Color Divination” and curated by Jeannie Catmull and Fern Strong, runs through March 16. Catmull, the proprietor of Brainstorm Art Supply, also gave support putting a fresh coat of paint on the gallery wall and coordinated a volunteer crew for the work.
The mainstage season kicked off Saturday, Feb. 10, with an Upper Valley Baroque matinee performance. Artistic director and conductor Filippo Ciabatti led the world-renowned instrumentalists playing Handel’s Water Music on period instruments and local soprano Mary Bonhag performed dramatic arias from Handel operas.
On Sunday, Feb. 11, Chandler plans to present CelloGayageum, a classical duo from Korea, who have created a unique fusion of Western classical music and traditional Korean music.
The Gayageum is a traditional Korean instrument in the zither family, with 12 silk strings and with 12 moveable bridges to adjust tuning. The tour is in celebration of the Lunar New Year, and the duo plans to perform a student matinee on Monday morning, with support from Mid-Atlantic Arts.
On Saturday, Feb. 17, Chandler is collaborating with Vermont Public on a production of the Homegoings podcast. As a segment of Vermont Public’s Brave Little State, Homegoings began to highlight interviews with Black artists in Vermont. The show has since gone on its own. It’s now a nationally syndicated podcast, created and produced by Myra Flynn, who got her start as an artist on the Chandler stage.
The show will feature composer Matthew Evan Taylor, actress and dancer Marissa Herrera, artist and former member of the Vermont House of Representatives Kiah Morris, comedian Ash Diggs and poet Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr.
Corrections: An earlier version of this story included misspellings of Matthew Evan Taylor’s and Marissa Herrera’s names, and misnamed Brainstorm Art Supply.
