Small Town Symphony

A sound engineer builds a studio, and the music-as well as the community-follows.

When you ask Patrick Lo Re why he decamped from the wilds of Manhattan for the rolling bucolic hills of the Hudson Valley, his answer is to the point. “In one word, the sound experience of New York City is: noise,” explains the audio engineer—who, in his quest to perfect the art of recording music, has learned to play several instruments, as well as studied architecture, material science, and a bit of physics. In 2006, when he found his architecturally inspired raised ranch nestled on six acres in the quiet hamlet of New Baltimore, he relished the calm. “Coming back to nature was about opening up,” he explains of his move upstate. “I found in Manhattan I was unconsciously protecting myself. The experience is not harmonious. Here, nature offers sounds you want to hear. ”

Photos by Winona Barton-Ballentine