Lifting guests to new heights both physically and mentally is nothing new at Sun Valley Resort. Seventy-three years ago the world’s first chairlift was born here. Next month the resort plans to unveil perhaps the world’s most ingenious music pavilion.

The sounds of music and the raw beauty of the Rocky Mountain surroundings will come together in an open air pavilion with a 70-foot high proscenium arch and a curved copper shingled roof, anchored by an immense, underground foundation of 150 truck  loads of concrete.

Following opening night August 3rd, with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony’s debut of its 24th season, violinist Gil Shaham, and a commissioned overture by American composer Kevin Puts, the Pavilion will host the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Denyce Graves  on August 9th. The Sun Valley Summer Symphony will then make the pavilion their home. In the months the Symphony is not in residence, the Sun Valley Resort will book various events and entertainment.

The Sun Valley Pavilion concept was developed by FTL Design Engineering Studio of New York which has designed similar alfresco concert venues including Pier 6 on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Washington DC’s Capitol Concerts Pavilion and the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera’s portable concert facility.

The dominating proscenium arch was constructed in a Washington shipyard and shipped to Sun Valley in three separate pieces, then welded back together onsite. The horn-shaped copper-covered roof allows the structure to blend seamlessly with Sun Valley’s natural beauty and a classic view of Bald Mountain.

Half an acre of white tensile fabric will be stretched from the arch’s apex to a curved promenade behind the rear seating area. Nearly 1,500 concert goers will sit comfortably below the translucent fabric which will emit a gentle diffused light, lending a comparison to a lantern-like glow. And, 2,500 plus concert goers will be able to sit and picnic on the grassy areas surrounding the pavilion. Picnickers will not be slighted the concert sound thanks to the LARES-Lexicon  system which will create the sense of concert hall sound rather than a traditional speaker system.

Exposed walls will be surfaced with 1,000 tons of travertine rock from the Mariotti quarry just outside of Rome, Italy. Other worldly structures with this stone include the Roman Coliseum, the Lincoln Center in New York and the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

Nic Goldsmith, FTL’s Senior Principal and Project Director says the pavilion,“emerges from the terrain in the form of two stone retaining walls, arising to its apex  to create an intimate sense of place, then melding visually with the natural landscape.”

As the Architect for the project, Ruscitto/Latham/Blanton Architectura P.A. of Sun Valley, Idaho worked in collaboration with FTL Design Engineering Studio of New York who presented the initial schematic design to the Sun Valley Summer Symphony Board of Directors. FTL Design Engineering Studio provided the structural engineering for the fabric tensile roof and supporting trusses.  ES², Inc. of Idaho Falls, Idaho furnished the remainder of the structural engineering for the architectural elements of the structure. Ruscitto/Latham/Blanton Architectura P.A. developed the final building design, specifications and detailing working closely with Sun Valley Company, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Holding, and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony Board. Intermountain Construction, Inc. of Idaho Falls, Idaho was called upon to provide the highly complicated construction under an accelerated fast track schedule. Over thirty key International Consultants and Subcontractors provided significant expertise, materials, and methods to complete the project. Thadd Blanton, AIA of Ruscitto/Latham/Blanton Architectura P.A. is credited with specifying the Italian Mariotti travertine as the exterior/interior stone cladding that comprises the magnificent stone walls of the pavilion.

Sun Valley Resort owner Earl Holding and his family donated the lion’s share of funds to bring this vision to fruition. Symphony supporters also have funded the project.

For more information, graphics & video, go to Pavilion's webpage .