Soon, University of Denver students and professors will be able to make beautiful music together.
That’s because the new $50 million Performing Arts Center will be open for classes this next fall. It is located on the south end of campus, just up the street from Olin Hall.
The building has four components, the first of which is an academic building for the Lamont School of Music. The Lamont School of Music is currently located at the Park Hill campus. There will be 43 teaching studios, an 80-seat salon for recitals, concerts, lectures and master classes, and three large rehearsal spaces for the orchestra, choir, opera singers and jazz musicians.
The building will also include a recording studio, audio/visual technology in every classroom, and 41 individual and ensemble practice rooms. There will be a music library, listening center, and a keyboard lab with 21 instructional pianos and one grand disclavier piano. Finally, there will be classrooms, seminar rooms, administrative offices, lounges, and lockers for instrument storage.
The second component of the Performing Arts Center is a 250-seat recital hall for student and faculty concerts and recitals, the centerpiece of which is a Schuke Orgelbau Berlin organ with 51 ranks and 2,500 pipes.
The third component is a 1,000-seat concert and opera hall, with a double-lift orchestra pit, 100-foot fly gallery and appropriate support space. It is designed to be similar to the famous Vienna Opera House, with all of the seats no further than 80 feet from the stage.
Finally, the fourth component is a 250-seat theatre. This will serve as the main stage for University of Denver theatrical productions. It is designed with an additional rehearsal space that will allow multiple shows to be staged per quarter. This fourth component includes a three-story lobby area with a surrounding balcony and stone staircase.
The school, which has an estimated cost of at least $50 million, is being paid for by donations. DU is asking for $73.5 million; $63.5 million to build the performing arts center and at least $10 million for scholarships, program support and building maintenance. While some may think this is extravagant, the University Campaign for Music and Theatre argues that the benefits well outweigh the cost.
They argue that the new center will help the University “showcase the elite faculty and students of music and theatre at DU, recruit and retain outstanding music and theatre faculty and students, support music and theatre pedagogy with state of the art teaching facilities, integrate the Lamont School of Music students and faculty into life at University Park, provide increased opportunities for creative expression among university students, and support the undergraduate liberal arts curriculum at the University of Denver.”
They also say that it will “enhance the University’s educational relationship to the community, create a cultural center in southeast Denver and provide additional venues for outside musical and theatre groups.”
One of the reasons for the high cost of the building is the technology involved. Every classroom will have audio/visual technology, as well as some specialized technology in the recital hall, concert hall, theatre, and recital rooms.
Another reason for the high cost is the expense of building materials. The design for the building is meant to echo the Ritchie Sports Center. The building’s exterior is built of limestone, which is shipped from Indiana, and red Hansen stone, which is shipped from Utah. The copper wiring, edging, gutters and roof also add to the cost, but help to give the building a look similar to the Ritchie Center.
There are very few students who do not find the new building beautiful, though some find it too extravagant. Many students are not fans of the copper, which turns black after a few months in the dry Colorado air. For a while, however, the copper keeps its distinctive color and shine and creates a contrast of reds between the walls and the roof of the building.
Many music school students are thrilled with the new building. They are happy both with its technology and beautiful design. Mostly, they are happy that they will be more a part of the main DU campus. With the current situation of separate campuses, they tend to feel cut off from the rest of the school because it is so far away. Now they will be a more direct part of the DU campus and will be able to interact more easily with other students.
The school will open in the fall of 2002, in time for the first quarter of the academic year. Construction will continue through the summer. For more information, visit http://www.du.edu/pac/main.html.
