F. Ludwig Diehn Center for the Performing Arts

The F. Ludwig Diehn Center for the Performing Arts features classrooms, rehearsal space, offices for the Department of Music and the Dance Program, and also contains the Wilson G. Chandler Recital Hall at Old Dominion University (ODU). Located along 49th Street between Webb University Center and the Kate and John R. Broderick Dining Commons, the building is named after F. Ludwig Diehn, a Norfolk composer and ODU benefactor.

History

Conceived under ODU President Joseph M. Marchello, construction on the Fine and Performing Arts Building began in 1988 and was completed in 1991. In 1993, F. Ludwig Diehn gave a large gift to the university to fund an endowed music chair position, the Diehn Concert Series, and the F. Ludwig Diehn Composers Room. At this time, the building changed its name to the F. Ludwig Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Building. Dedicated in 1997, the Diehn Composers Room features the music library and a reading room for viewing musicians’ manuscripts and audiovisual material. In September 2011, the Board of Visitors approved changing the name of the facility to the F. Ludwig Diehn Center for the Performing Arts.

Resources

1. Old Dominion University Photographic and Multimedia Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Perry Library, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 23529.
2. ODU Photographic Collection, Old Dominion University Libraries Digital Collections, Old Dominion University Libraries.
3. Building the University, Old Dominion University Libraries Digital Exhibit, 2005.

References

1. Bookman, Steven and Jessica Ritchie. Old Dominion University: A Campus History Series.  Arcadia Publishing. Charleston, South Carolina, 2017.