Ardrey Auditorium is a 1,491 capacity performing arts auditorium located on the Northern Arizona University campus.
Ardrey Auditorium is managed by the College of Arts and Letters, Northern Arizona University. The auditorium has served as a venue for every performance imaginable - touring shows, major dance companies, opera, orchestras, pop music and contemporary performances. The College of Arts and Letters also sponsors all of the School of Music events.
Please click on a link below for more information or contact us directly at Ardrey.Auditorium@nau.edu
Ardrey Auditorium Informational Packet
Ardrey Auditorium Technical Form
About the Auditorium
Building Information
Construction Date: 1972 (Ardrey)
Architect: Terry Atkinson
Builder: E.L. Farmer Construction
Major Renovation(s)s
Year: 1998
Architect: Johnson Walzer / Durant
Flagstaff Design & Construction
ost: $10.3 million
These two structures, the Performing and Fine Arts Building and Ardrey Auditorium opened in 1969 and 1972 respectively. The two-phase project featured Modern International style architecture with Mansard-like roof lines. The first phase, known initially as Creative and Communication Arts, and the second phase, the name of which became Ardrey Auditorium in 1975, were built at a combined cost of $3.2 million.
Performing and Fine Arts features offices, classrooms, music practice rooms, choral and instrumental practice rooms, the NAU Art Museum, the Clifford E. White Theatre. The NAU student orchestra, several bands, choral groups, and individual instruction utilize the facilities. The two theater venues are home to NAU drama productions, summer theater productions, and occasional smaller music performances. This portion of the joint facility underwent $800,000 in renovations over the first 25 years. In 1997-1998 the pair of buildings received an extensive $10.3 million renovation, designed by Johnson Walzer/Durant and built by Flagstaff Design & Construction.
Ardrey Auditorium seats 1,500 people and features a $200,000 pipe organ installed in 1973. The concert hall venue provides a home for the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, the NAU Orchestra, the Master Chorale of Flagstaff, and numerous other organizations. The hall also hosts a number of guest artists and performances. Since 1980, more than $1.6 million in renovations to Ardrey included stage modification, theater safety issues, and numerous smaller changes, such as upgrading the lobby.
Eldon Ardrey
Eldon Ardrey was born on May 24, 1905 at Safford County, KS. His early schooling occurred in rural Kansas, followed by a B.A. degree from the University of Kansas in 1928. Ardrey earned the M.S. degree from Yankton College (closed in 1984) in South Dakota in 1931, where he taught strings and musical theory. He later obtained his doctorate in education from the University of Colorado (at Boulder) in 1959. He first came to Flagstaff and the state college in the summer of 1929 for a musical activity. He and his wife returned in 1931 when Grady Gammage, then the school president, asked him to serve as Chair of Music. They remained in Flagstaff the remainder of their lives, including 41 years on the faculty for Eldon Ardrey. During those four decades, the Music Department moved from the basement of Old Main to portions of the Ashurst Building, which became Ashurst Music Hall and had practice rooms, studios, several classrooms, and offices in addition to the renovated main hall. Near the end of his life, Ardrey witnessed the transition to the then Creative and Communication Arts Building.
During his long tenure with the school, Eldon Ardrey accomplished many firsts, a number of which involved the local community in addition to people at the college. He founded the Shrine of ages Choir in 1932, directed it for 25 years, and provided the first Easter Sunday Sunrise Services at the Grand Canyon in 1935. The annual event was broadcast live on a national radio network for many decades. Ardrey organized the first Arizona All-State Orchestra in 1939, continued to conduct in the ensuing decades, and thus insured a program that continues today. He was a co-founder of the Flagstaff Festival of the Arts, which used a variety of venues for music, art exhibits, dance, and theatre performances, including in the later years, what is now Ardrey Auditorium. Ardrey served on the Arizona State Commission for the Arts from 1967-1970. He also co-founded the Northern Arizona University Summer Music Camp.
Eldon Ardrey became Director of the Liberal Arts Division in 1958 and then Dean of the College of Creative Arts in 1966. Eldon and Ruth Ardrey were the joint Homecoming Dedicatees for 1957. His son, Roger, a baritone vocalist, joined the music faculty at NAU for six years. Mrs. Ruth Ardrey served in many capacities, including being the organist for the Federated Church for 35 years and as a long time member of the Symphony Guild. Eldon Ardrey died at Flagstaff on March 6, 1969.