Ponte Vedra Concert Hall Enters New Era with Help from WSDG
Acoustic designers optimize newly renovated north Florida cultural destination
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL, AUGUST 21, 2025 – The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall [PVCH] has established itself as a crucial port of call for touring musical acts passing through northern Florida since its founding in 2011. Since then, the venue’s reputation as an artist-friendly space with a warm, enthusiastic crowd has drawn increasingly prestigious talent to perform on its stage. In May of 2024, SJC Cultural Events Inc. – the 501(c)3 organization responsible for the venue’s continued success – committed to an ambitious renovation of the hall to better accommodate the larger acts and bigger crowds it has regularly been attracting. As part of these upgrades, the organization brought on acoustic designers WSDG for the critical work of enhancing the hall’s sonic qualities.
Growth and potential
The catalyst for pursuing these upgrades was a genuine desire on the part of SJC Cultural Events to embody the potential that they had seen in the venue all along. Despite rising from somewhat humble beginnings, the success of PVCH and the enthusiasm of the professional teams and community around it clearly pointed to bigger and better things. “We couldn’t have imagined how much it was going to grow when we founded the space in 2011,” explains SJC Cultural Events CEO and President Gabriel Pellicer. “At the time, we simply believed we could create a cultural enhancement for the community that could also serve as a valuable touring stop for artists moving up and down the Florida coast.”
“After fourteen years, it had become clear that we were overperforming in terms of the level of artists we were able to attract and the quality of shows we were able to put on. We’d always known that we wanted to do more with the venue, so the time was right to give it a chance to properly grow.”
SJC Cultural Events’ focuses for the upgrade were enhancing the experience for the performing artists as well as the audiences that pack the hall to see them. In addition to size expansions in both the stage and seated capacity, technical and acoustic upgrades were top of the list. “After 14 years, we were ready to upgrade to a more capable sound system and wanted to ensure that both artist and audience experiences were elevated to reflect that change,” says PVCH Senior Production Manager Michael Livingston. “To that end, we assembled a team of local Florida consultants and businesses that could help us accomplish these goals.”
“We became aware of WSDG’s reputation in these fields and quickly realized they would be a major asset to achieving the sonic goals we had for these upgrades.”
Organic vibes, invisible acoustics
WSDG partnered with local Ponte Vedra Beach architectural firm Fisher | Koppenhafer Architecture and Interior Design as well as Owner and Systems Designer Stephen Unklebach of AVL Productions, and fellow acousticians Rulon International and EZ Acoustics – all local Florida businesses who brought a shared sense of pride and enthusiasm to the project. The WSDG design team – consisting of Partner, Director of Business Development Sergio Molho, Partner, Project Engineer David Molho, and Project Engineer, Acoustics Luis Hermida – was tasked with ensuring that the venue’s existing lively character was preserved, while making critical improvements in speech intelligibility and audibility. As much of the music performed at the Concert Hall is organic, roots music in the folk, bluegrass, and blues traditions, enhancing the acoustical characteristics of the hall to elevate the experience of these genres was a key aspect of the project. “"It’s an incredible building to start with a big history and an important vibe component to it – we wanted to ensure that none of that was lost,” says David Molho. “Instead, it was an exercise of making subtle, but important changes that would elevate the experience of being there and enhancing the connection between audience and performers.”
The WSDG team created a 3D model of the live music venue and proposed a series of acoustic solutions that would be undetectable to the untrained eye while still providing the desired outcomes. As the venue’s ceiling utilizes an open cell foam for thermal reasons, WSDG was able to take advantage of this existing feature to solve certain low-frequency acoustical issues. Subtle, flutter-free diffusion was introduced along the side and back walls to control first-order reflections toward both the stage and audience, effectively reducing flutter echo and enhancing the overall acoustic quality of the hall. Electroacoustic requirements provided by AVL Productions for a new L-Acoustics line array were also taken into account, to ensure a lively sonic experience with improved low end. “We implemented a solution that was largely invisible and took advantage of the venue’s existing infrastructure where possible to keep costs reasonable,” Molho explains. “The diffusion on the walls was a fairly simple change, but it made such a big impact on the overall quality of the acoustics in the room and allowed us to hit our targets."
“Sonically, WSDG was able to achieve exactly what we were hoping for – improved control of the acoustics to suit the new line array and ensure improved intelligibility all around,” adds Livingston. “They’ve set us up to truly be able to deliver on the potential of these upgrades, and we’re incredibly excited to show everyone what the venue is now capable of.”
A new era for a major cultural destination
The completed renovations for the main concert hall have increased its capacity by nearly 25%, allowing it to now support a standing room of 1100 or seated capacity of 615. The increased stage size now can better accommodate the larger groups of performers that PVCH has been regularly attracting. All of these changes have set PVCH up for a new era of success, all while still retaining its authentic charm and warm, welcoming atmosphere. “We’ve always been after the best version of ourselves in terms of our ability to deliver incredible events in an incredible space,” says Pellicer. “Now we feel like we’re in a position to truly and confidently present exactly what we believe we’re capable of, and the impact it will have on our community, and the artists we bring in, is going to be massive. We’re incredibly proud.”
“It’s a major accomplishment for a truly special venue,” states Sergio Molho. “WSDG is honored to have played a role in helping to shape an exciting new era for one of North Florida’s most important cultural destinations.”
Photo credit: © Jared Swafford / Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
For more information about Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, please visit: https://www.pvconcerthall.com/
For more information about WSDG and its projects, please visit: http://www.wsdg.com/
ABOUT WSDG, LLC
WSDG (Walters-Storyk Design Group) is an 13-time TEC award-winning international firm specializing in acoustic and AV technology consulting and design. Pioneering architect/acoustician, John Storyk (AIA), founded the company in 1969 with the creation of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in New York City’s Greenwich Village. WSDG provides a wide portfolio of design and consulting services that support architectural projects throughout all phases of project development. Our international team of consultants have provided timely, detailed and cost-effective advice on highly sensitive and complex architectural construction and renovation projects, from small but critical retrofits to challenging ground up construction projects. WSDG has extensive experience with sensitive architectural issues including historical renovations, additions and new construction projects in media production, corporate, government, transportation, education, broadcasting and cultural / entertainment sectors.
Past clients include Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, J Cole, and Jack Antonoff; corporate entities such as Spotify, Sony, CBS, Novartis, and IBM; global governmental AV installations as well as educational institutions, including Berklee College of Music, UCLA, NYU, Drexel, and USC.
Steve Bailey
