SUNY Center for the Arts

The University at Buffalo Center for the Arts opened in 1994 with performances by Canadian Brass, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the university's Zodiaque Dance Company, among others. The Drama Theatre inaugurated its programme with The Threepenny Opera. The centre combines professional presentations with university teaching and production, and its Mainstage seats 1,750 beneath an adjustable proscenium. Movable acoustic panels adapt the room to different performances. Guest appearances have included Ray Charles in 2003 and Jazz at Lincoln Center, whose musicians also led student activities. Theatre students gain practical experience alongside professional staff, while exhibitions and interdisciplinary projects use the atrium and other spaces within the building. On the University at Buffalo's North Campus in Amherst, the Center for the Arts gathers the university's performing and visual arts under one roof — theatre and dance, music, media study, and the university's art galleries — around a mainstage auditorium large enough for orchestras, opera and touring companies. Opened in 1994, the building serves a double purpose: a teaching department by day, and by night a public house presenting a professional season of music, dance and drama to western New York.