Norfolk Music Shed

Norfolk Music Shed is an historic music hall located in the densely forested Litchfield Hills of the lower Berkshire mountains in the northwest part of Connecticut. Originally, the land estate was owned by the Battell family, an affluent family from Norfolk with a long history of philanthropy for local music and Yale University. Several family members were Yale alumni and kept ties to the school and its music program. After Ellen Battelle married Carl Stoeckle in 1895, the two funded construction of the Music Shed in 1906. Its purpose was to house the Litchfield County Choral Union, later known as the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and soon became internationally known. Now run by Yale, the Music Shed is known for its excellent acoustics, attributed to its construction from cedar and redwood that was individually selected and imported from California. In Phase I, Kronenberger & Sons restored and replaced the entire outside cedar shake siding, roof, and reconstructed the large cupola based on historical photographs. In Phase II, KSR removed, restored, and reinstalled all windows and doors on the building, including full lead paint abatement for each.

“What they accomplished was beyond anything we could have expected! [...] Their people were extremely skillful, and the results spectacularly beautiful.” – Paul Hawksaw, Norfolk Chamber Director