Itâs a time of transition for the College of Music. As faculty, staff and students prepare for the collegeâs 100th birthday in 2020, theyâre working out of temporary spaces in one of the oldest buildings on campus and one of the newest, waiting for their new home to become a reality.
âBut all that will be worth it, because this is going to be huge.â
Anoushka Divekar, a senior music education and clarinet double major from Iowa, is one of the students who looks forward to coming back to her alma mater after graduation to see what comes of the transition. Divekar walks past the construction on the south side of Imig Music Building every morning at 7, as she leaves her dorm room in Cheyenne Arapaho Hall to get in some practice time.
âThatâs the only time I can do it. If you come looking for a practice room at 10 or 11 in the morning, you canât find one thatâs open.â
She and hundreds of music students past and present know exactly what limitations the new addition will help address. So do the faculty who work in offices without proper acoustics, ensembles that have rehearsed in the same subprime spaces for decades, the staff who play a daily game of musical chairs to schedule classes and concerts in limited spacesâand the administrators and supporters who have worked countless hours for a quarter-century to bring our physical home to the level of our artistry.
But what exactly will the 64,000-square-foot expansion bring to the College of Music? How will students, faculty, staff and patrons benefit from the $57 million construction project?
See for yourself!
A way to welcome music lovers
âThe experience will leave you in awe and set the stage for the rest of your time here.â â Courtney Rowe, Assistant Dean for Advancement
One of the most striking improvements planned is the new front entrance on 18th Street. Three stories of windows, set in that trademark CU șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ” sandstone, will greet visitors just south of the current main entrance outside Grusin Music Hall.
âThe first thing, your front-line experience, is with a building. So now parents and prospective students and returning alumni and visiting artists will walk in, and theyâll be met with that âwow,ââ says Assistant Dean for Advancement Courtney Rowe. Just inside the front door, a short walk to the left, will be the collegeâs trademark performance space, Grusin Music Hall. To the right, a brand new, 110-seat recital hall, in the vein of the old Chamber Hall.
âNow patrons will have a front door and a welcome,â says longtime Professor of Piano and Helen and Peter Weill Faculty Fellow David Korevaar. âOur current profile doesnât project a College of Music. This new lobby will give audiences a place to hang out before programs. It sends a much stronger message.â
A place to refine our skills
âItâs pretty cool that weâve conceived of this large rehearsal hall as a convertible performance space with retractable seating.â â Robert Shay, Dean of the College of Music
One of the central additions planned is an innovative new large rehearsal facility that can convert into a 150-seat performance space at the push of a button. Dean Robert Shay says it will open up new opportunities for performance. âItâll be an interesting place for performances that arenât quite right for Grusin or the Chamber Hall.â
Scheduling ensemble rehearsals has been a sticking point for the college for years, but the new convertible spaceâplus dedicated choral and percussion rehearsal roomsâwill mean new efficiencies and hours of freed-up time for large groups and the students who comprise them.
As the college launches initiatives inspired by The College of Music Advantage strategic plan, that need becomes even more apparent. âWeâre looking forward to the opportunity to rethink the whole schedule,â Shay says.
There will also be nine additional practice roomsâa priority for students like Divekar, who regularly spends nearly her entire allotted rehearsal time looking for a space to meet with her woodwind quintet.
âFinding time for five people to meet at the same time is already impossible, and when you spend most of your time just trying to find places to practice, that has an impact on what you can do together,â Divekar says.Ìę
The expansion also adds space for the Department of Theatre & Dance, including a dance studio, changing rooms and a theatre classroom, which Shay says is indicative of the collegeâs move toward more on-campus collaboration.
A nurturing learning environment
âSchools around the country are getting beautiful new facilities, and those are the programs that are trying to recruit the same students and faculty that we are. And we definitely donât always measure up.â â David Korevaar, Professor of Piano
Shay says new teaching and educational spaces were established as the focus of the expansion before he even arrived as dean in Fall 2014. âOur faculty members need the proper laboratory to do their work,â he explains. âWe wouldnât hire scientists on this campus and then put them in a closet without the equipment they need, and this is the same concept.âÌę
To that end, two new, state-of-the-art classroom spaces and acoustically designed studios for the keyboard, woodwind and conducting faculty will replace the stretch of the south hallway that educators like Korevaar have called home for years.
âThe natural light alone will make an enormous difference,â Korevaar says. âThere will also be more room for the multiple pianos many of the keyboard faculty have in their studios.â
In addition, a second-floor office for the Entrepreneurship Center for Music and a top-floor suite and teaching space for the Musiciansâ Wellness Program will help the college make good on one of its strategic goals of training well-rounded musicians. âItâs the first time those two important programs will have a physical space,â Shay says.
Finally, the second floor will be the home to an expanded recording studio that will further increase the collegeâs interdisciplinary training capabilities.
âIt will be physically networked so that we can record several concerts simultaneously,â Shay explains, âbut itâs also a teaching space for students who want to develop those skills alongside our talented technicians.â
A group effort
In all, the 64,000 square feet will add roughly 4,600 feet of performance space, 6,500 feet rehearsal space and 8,800 feet of teaching space, plus wider hallways, administrative offices, restrooms and more. And every one of those square feet has been a coordinated effort of passionate members of the College of Music family.
âThe collective action of the Advancement team and the collegeâs Advisory Board has been instrumental,â Rowe says. âAnd Dean Shay and Dean Emeritus Daniel Sher have really carried on the legacy and vision of all the deans before them. This has been a âpay-it-forwardâ projectâthe result of the effort of so many before us, those among us now, and many who will join us in the future.
âChancellor Philip DiStefanoâs leadership has been essential as well.â
Adds Shay, âIâm deeply thankful for the partnership weâve had with CU șù«ÍȚÊÓÆ” Facilities Management. Weâve worked hand in hand with that robust component of our campus staff, and their expertise has been a big help. And we're truly fortunate to have an all-star team of external partners, especially Pfeiffer Partners and Acoustic Distinctions.â
As the college community looks out the window at the ever-changing landscape along Wardenburg Drive, the fact that the new wing is expected to open toward the tail end of the collegeâs year-long centennial celebration only adds to the excitement.
âWe can look back with real pride and satisfaction for where weâve been, and look ahead with anticipation as we leap forward into our second century,â Shay says.
âItâs a big birthday gift,â Divekar adds. âItâs like a present for the students.â
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