Hylton Performing Arts Center expansion opens

The Hylton Performing Arts Center opened in Manassas in 2010.

Now, a new expansion has made the center complete. George Mason University tells us:

The Hylton Performing Arts Center officially opened the Education and Rehearsal Wing with a ribbon-cutting celebration on December 3, 2019.

The $13.5 million expansion on George Mason University’s Science and Technology Campus, added 17,000 square feet and includes two rehearsal halls, six practice rooms, two classrooms, and two additional lobby spaces, allowing the community to utilize the Hylton Center in an expanded way to educate, rehearse, perform, and collaborate.

Rick Davis, Executive Director of the Hylton Center and Dean of Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts and Chairman of the Prince William Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Bishop Lyle Dukes, as well as performances by Mason Music and Opera students.

The Wing completes the original vision for the Hylton Center, finalizing its footprint with a design informed by nearly a decade of programming experience and a clear understanding of what this region requires in order to excel as a sophisticated arts community.

“The opening of this new Wing not only means an expansion of educational offerings at the Hylton Center, but also the opportunity for this community to fully enter into the entire life-cycle of artistic creation,” shares Davis. “In this new Wing, we will educate—both through our partnerships in the community as well as through Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, as well as rehearse, perform and collaborate. We look forward to filling these halls and spaces with artistic energy, synergy, and creation.”

The Wing features two new spaces—one rehearsal hall the floor size of the Merchant Hall stage and the other the footprint of the Gregory Family Theater, which will enable arts groups to stage full-scale rehearsals or performances. The spaces feature flexible seating, advanced acoustic treatments, and sprung dance floors.

The outfitted practice rooms and classrooms will allow students and artists of all ages to learn and perfect their craft at the Hylton Center, under the tutelage of George Mason University’s nationally renowned professors, Lifelong Learning lecturers, and professional artists.

Groundbreaking for the center’s expansion took place on September 15, 2016.