The Barshinger Center provides a world-class concert hall to serve as the centerpiece of Franklin & Marshall's thriving music program. The setting is elegant and the atmosphere is acoustically vibrant, a venue for visiting musicians of the highest caliber.

Adjoining Barshinger, Franklin & Marshall has refurbished Meyran Hall, a building that serves as home for the Music Department as well as other academic departments.

The Hall features an expanded stage designed to handle a full 70-piece orchestra or a full chorus with orchestra, up to 135 performers in all. Seating accommodates just over 500, all with a first-rate view of the stage.

Acoustics were designed by one of the world's preeminent acousticians, Lawrence Kirkegaard, who participated in the recent renovations of Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood and Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Project architect, Ann Beha Associates, a top Boston architectural firm specializing in historic preservation, teamed with Kirkegaard on the New England Conservatory of Music project and also was the architect for the Centennial renovations of Boston's Symphony Hall.

While the exterior of Hensel remained unchanged, Beha's extensive work on the interior produced a hall of light woods and bright windows. Perhaps most striking in appearance are the lobbies, bathed in light from three majestic two-story windows across the front of the building.

The Barshinger Center is more than an exceptional venue for visiting artists, student musicians, guest speakers and other performers. The center is also used extensively by students for rehearsals and classes throughout the academic year.