Athens, GA

Athens, Georgia, has an important centre for classical music at the University of Georgia's Performing Arts Center. Opened in April 1996 with a week of concerts, the complex brings together university performers and visiting artists. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, named for the founder of the university's School of Music, seats approximately eleven hundred people around its stage. The smaller Ramsey Concert Hall provides a more intimate setting for solo recitals and chamber music.

The centre serves both the university and the wider Athens community. Its work includes public concerts, performances by faculty and students, lectures and educational activities involving schools and other community organisations. The opening celebrations included the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and a newly commissioned orchestral work by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. This combination of teaching, performance and public engagement gives the university a substantial role in the city's cultural life.