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National Sawdust
2015
Est.
Williamsburg · Brooklyn
National
Sawdust
80 North 6th St, Brooklyn, NY · The City's Most Vital New-Music Hall
About the Venue
New music's most vital home
322
Seat Capacity
2015
Year Founded
3D
Spatial Sound
Non
Profit Institution
National Sawdust is a dynamic non-profit cultural institution that commissions, produces, and presents programming rooted in sound. Founded in 2015 by composer Paola Prestini, it operates out of a meticulously converted century-old sawdust factory in Williamsburg — one of the few remaining cultural venues in the neighborhood.
At its core is a flexible chamber hall designed by Bureau V architects and acoustically engineered by the renowned firm Arup. The space is equipped with a cutting-edge Meyer Sound Constellation system capable of emulating the acoustics of a chamber music venue, symphony hall, or vast cathedral at the press of a button.
The New York Times has called it "the city's most vital new-music hall" and "a triumphantly successful performance space" — led by women, driven by artists, and open to everyone.
The Spaces
One hall.
Infinite sonic worlds.
01
Chamber Hall
322 Seats · Flexible
The heart of National Sawdust — an intimate, acoustically superb concert hall designed for the highest-quality experience of both unamplified and amplified performance.
02
Meyer Sound System
Constellation · Spacemap 3D
A state-of-the-art spatial sound system that transforms the room into any acoustic environment imaginable — from intimate chamber to soaring cathedral — with three-dimensional sound panning.
03
Studio & Residency
Workshops · Recording
A dedicated space for artist residencies, commissions, workshops, and professional development — supporting emerging artists with the resources and relationships they need to grow.
Events
Concerts, commissions,
and everything between.
Live Performances
World Premieres & Commissions
Artist Residencies
Mentorship Programs
Special & Private Events
Ideas & Talks
History
Built from
sawdust
and sound
2015
"The city's most vital new-music hall... a triumphantly successful performance space." — The New York Times
Early 1900s
The building at 80 North 6th Street operates as a working sawdust factory in industrial Williamsburg — its soaring ceilings and raw brick walls a testament to Brooklyn's manufacturing past.
2015
National Sawdust opens, founded by composer Paola Prestini. Designed by Bureau V and acoustically engineered by Arup, the converted factory becomes a new kind of cultural institution — non-profit, artist-driven, and genre-defying.
2019
A major sound upgrade introduces the Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system and Spacemap 3D spatial audio — giving artists and audiences an entirely new relationship with sound in the space.
Today
National Sawdust continues to commission and premiere new work across classical, jazz, pop, and experimental genres — one of the few New York cultural institutions led by women, and one of Williamsburg's last remaining arts venues.
Location
Find Us
Address
80 North 6th Street
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
New York, NY 11249
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
New York, NY 11249
Transit
L train to Bedford Ave.
G train to Nassau Ave.
Short walk from both stops.
G train to Nassau Ave.
Short walk from both stops.
Phone
(646) 779-8455
Website
nationalsawdust.org
Discover
new music
Performances, residencies, and tickets at nationalsawdust.org
Visit National Sawdust