In 1969, a new performing arts center came on the scene in the U.S.

At the time, New York Times critic Donal Henahan described the Krannert Center for Performing Arts in Urbana, Illinois, as "one of the most ingeniously worked out art complexes anywhere."

This weekend, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, Illinois, celebrates 50 years of bringing music, theater and dance to a part of the country where many are surprised to find it.

What Makes Krannert An Artist Favorite

The Krannert Center is a massive, reddish-brown brick building on the campus of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. The building itself is oddly shaped because it houses four different theaters, each with a different height and structure uniquely suited to the purposes they serve.

The acoustics at the Foellinger Great Hall are so good that, for years, the entire Chicago Symphony Orchestra drove several hours through the cornfields of central Illinois to record pieces, such as the Mahler Symphony No. 7, which won a Grammy Award for best classical performance in 1972.

Krannert Center Director Mike Ross says the Great Hall is masterfully designed, with a hung ceiling structure that allows the sound to move up and over and resonate within the space. So it's ideal for symphonies and chamber music.

"We repeatedly hear that this is the finest acoustic in America, and competes very favorably elsewhere around the globe," Ross says.

Does that mean there's not a single bad seat in the Great Hall?

"Well, we certainly like to say that," Ross says.

The Foellinger Great Hall has a hung ceiling structure that allows the sound to move up and over and resonate within the space, making it ideal for symphonies and chamber music. (Courtesy of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts)

The Festival Theatre at Krannert has a large, traditional fly tower, which stagehands use to literally "fly" scenery or people onto the stage and introduce other special effects.

In the Colwell Playhouse, the human voice carries remarkably well, which makes it ideal for spoken-word performances. And the Studio Theatre serves as a smaller, more intimate "black box" space, where student and professional artists can experiment with different approaches.

The entire 9-acre Krannert facility was designed by architect Max Abramovitz, known for his work on the David Geffen concert hall at the Lincoln Center in New York, among other famous buildings.

Ross says ever since Krannert opened in 1969, people have been surprised to find a performing arts center of this caliber in a city a fraction the size of Chicago.

"It caught the attention of the cultural elites on both coasts and elsewhere, the surprise factor of having the most comprehensive and beautifully designed performing arts complex to come into being, coming into being right here in the heartland," he says.

John Frayne, classical music critic for the News-Gazette in Champaign and host of a classical music radio program for Illinois Public Media, first came to central Illinois in 1965.

He says back then, he was dismayed to find a dearth of professional recital halls.

"The pickings were slim and the landscape for first-rate performances was pretty dim," Frayne says. "And then along came the Krannert Center, and so, an explosion of opportunity for visiting symphony orchestras to play in the Foellinger Great Hall."

'Classroom, Laboratory And Public Square'

What Mike Ross means by "comprehensive design" becomes more clear when one ventures down from the massive lobby that connects all four theaters on the top floor to see what's down below.

The lower levels house rehearsal spaces with the same footprint as each of the performance halls. In production shops, student artists work alongside professionals to create props, costumes and sets for upcoming performances.

Some are student productions, while others are commissioned works with artists from around the globe.