In 2016, Strathmore formalized it’s commitment to ensuring access to the arts with the Bloom initiative. Through an expansive partnership with Montgomery County’s schools, and an investment in free public arts programs throughout the community, Bloom helps Strathmore reach over 23,000 neighbors annually. The southern parts of Strathmore once attempted to incorporate as the Incorporated Village of Strathmore – but the proposal was voted down in a referendum vote. Because of the outcome of the referendum, all of Strathmore remains part of the unincorporated Manhasset CDP to this day.
INTIMATE CHAMBER CONCERTS
Strathmore, which began as a turn-of-the-century mansion featuring small chamber performances and art exhibitions in 1983, developed its plans for the Music Center over 20 years ago. In 1985, Strathmore’s Board of Directors and President and CEO Eliot Pfanstiehl began discussions about the need for a larger educational and performance space. In 1996, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, under the leadership of former president John Gidwitz, expressed interest in creating a second home in Montgomery County, and joined Strathmore as a founding partner of the Music Center at Strathmore. The Education Center, located at the opposite end of the building, features four expansive rehearsal spaces, including a dance studio with a sprung floor and two rehearsal rooms with 40-foot (12 m) high ceilings. This wing of the building also features a children’s music classroom, a small two-story rehearsal room and nine solo and small group practice spaces.
A flagship program of Strathmore’s Institute for Artistic and Professional Development, the Artist in Residence (AIR) program4 was created more than a decade ago to support artists as they transition to professional careers. Strathmore Artists in Residence benefit from the support of mentor musicians, participate in professional development seminars, and are offered extensive performance opportunities throughout the 10-month program. Parking at the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro garage (off of Tuckerman Lane) is free for ticketed events in the Music Center’s Concert Hall. At the end of each event, the exit gates to the garage will be open for 30 minutes to exit the garage. Parking for events and exhibitions in the Mansion is free in the Mansion lot on a space available basis. Your generosity brings distinctive programming and renowned artists to Strathmore’s stages and galleries and ensures that everyone in our community can experience the joy and wonder of the arts.
Having constructed new schools and residences nearby, the sisters sold the Mansion and its remaining 30 acres to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) in 1977 for use as its temporary headquarters. Read on to trace the history of the Mansion at Strathmore, from its Review Review Harbor House turn-of-the-century roots as a grand summer estate to its transformation into a spirited arts center. The public-private partnership between Strathmore Hall Foundation, Inc. assumes the day-to-day management and artistic programming of the Music Center and Mansion. Hundreds of donors stepped forward to help build, equip and sustain the operation of the Music Center. A six-story, 64-foot (20 m) high glass wall in the Lockheed Martin Lobby features 402 panes of glass, and opens to the outdoor Trawick Terrace that overlooks the Strathmore campus.
The Education Center provides rehearsal space and practice rooms for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra, CityDance Ensemble, and the Levine School of Music. The concert hall opened in 2005 and was built on the 11-acre site of the Strathmore Mansion, a 19th-century home which had been owned by Montgomery County since 1981. For more than two decades, the Mansion at Strathmore has provided intimate artistic programs with its 100-seat Dorothy M. And Maurice C. Shapiro Music Room, the Gudelsky Gallery Suite exhibition spaces, the outdoor Gudelsky Concert Pavilion, and outdoor Sculpture Gardens. In March 2015, Strathmore opened an additional performance and event space – AMP by Strathmore within Pike & Rose, the new mixed-use development located about one mile north of the Music Center on Rockville Pike. The property features a 250-seat music venue offering live performances including jazz, rock, folk, indie, and more.
- This wing of the building also features a children’s music classroom, a small two-story rehearsal room and nine solo and small group practice spaces.
- Read on to trace the history of the Mansion at Strathmore, from its turn-of-the-century roots as a grand summer estate to its transformation into a spirited arts center.
- The Music Center at Strathmore and the Strathmore Mansion are located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, Maryland, just off of the Capital Beltway and adjacent to the Grosvenor/Strathmore stop on the Washington, DC Metro’s Red Line.
- Enjoy a concert in the acoustically superb Music Room, explore our galleries and current exhibitions, indulge in Afternoon Tea, stroll through the sculpture gardens, and find a special something at the Shop at Strathmore.
- On June 21, 1983, after major restoration of the facility, Strathmore opened its doors to the public.
Artist in Residence (AIR) Program
The house was renamed Strathmore Hall, after the newly established nonprofit, and the Mansion with its surrounding grounds were developed as Montgomery County’s first center for the arts. After extensive restoration, the Mansion at Strathmore opened its doors to the public on June 24, 1983. The Music Center at Strathmore features an undulating roof that outlines the sloping form of the concert hall.
Afternoon Tea
The concert hall was designed in the traditional “shoebox” form of many international concert halls. Above the stage, a mechanized canopy of 43 individually controlled acrylic panels can be adjusted to fine-tune sound for clarity and reverberation. Tunable sound-absorbing curtains behind the bronze grilling and banners in the ceiling can be deployed out of sight to dampen or enliven the sound. The venue presents over 150 performances a year and over 75 arts and music education classes each week. Today, the organization’s hallmark is the Music Center at Strathmore, with a 1,976-seat concert hall and education complex that debuted in 2005. In 1996, the Mansion closed for a $3.2 million renovation that created the Gudelsky Gallery Suite, and a 4-story addition that houses the Lockheed Martin Conference Room, an expanded Shop at Strathmore, and new administrative offices.
Known to locals as the “Corby Farm,” the grounds had a fully operational dairy farm, greenhouse complex, private golf course, and many other outbuildings. After Charles’ passing in 1926, Hattie Corby remained in the residence until she passed away in 1941. More than 5,000 artists and 2 million visitors have attended exhibitions, concerts, teas, educational events and outdoor festivals since 1983. The complex is thus accessible for patrons coming from Washington, D.C., as well as the northern part of Montgomery County, Maryland via the Metro rail system. In 1979, Montgomery County, Maryland acquired the Mansion and 11 acres of land from ASHA.