Alumni/Donors: Capital Campaign

MSU College of Music kicks off campaign to raise funds for

construction of new music building

As part of The Campaign for MSU, the College of Music is in the process of raising funds toward a goal of $15 million to $20 million for the construction of a new music building. The project is a key bricks-and-mortar priority for the $1.2 billion Campaign for MSU. The public phase of this university wide campaign kicked off in 2002 and will run through 2007.

CAMPAIGN KICKOFF
To kick off the fund-raising efforts, MSU Trustee Dolores Cook and her husband Byron Cook pledged $1 million in 2002 for the construction of the new building. The Cook gift will be invested in a music building endowment fund while the university secures additional contributions from private and public partners.

"As we launch the largest capital campaign in MSU history, we can be proud that one of our board members is willing to lead the effort with a personal commitment of this magnitude," said MSU President Peter McPherson. "We are confident that this gift will inspire other individuals to consider a similar gift to the music building endowment fund."

According to Trustee Cook, "Byron and I have always been strong supporters of the music program. It is recognized throughout the United States and in many parts of the world as a leading professional training ground for composers, music educators, music therapists, and performers. We recognize that in order to retain our excellent faculty and attract other artists to study and teach here, we need to address the music facilities."

WHY THE NEED FOR A NEW BUILDING?
The College of Music has experienced an eighty percent increase in the enrollment of music majors over the past ten years. The faculty includes more than seventy resident artists and scholars and sixty-five graduate assistants who work with 600 music majors and 2,000 non-majors each year. In addition, the school supports the 300- member MSU Spartan Marching Band, and provides significant outreach through the presentation of approximately 400 events each year on campus and throughout Michigan.

In addition, the university has made significant investments in the MSU College of Music over the past eight years by hiring nationally and internationally known artists and teachers.

Most recently, the Jazz Studies Program has developed significantly with the addition of an undergraduate degree program and world-class musicians from the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

The Music Building was constructed in 1940, with an addition being completed in 1956, and the Music Practice Building was built in 1968. The two buildings provide just over 49,000 net square feet of programmable area. In order to adequately support the growth of the music program and functions of music education, performance, research, and outreach, a new building that can provide more space and support state-of-the-art equipment and acoustics is needed.

PROPOSED LOCATION

A leading option for the location of the new building is southeast of MSU's Giltner Hall on Auditorium Road. This would create a fine arts district with MSU's art museum, Department of Theatre, and MSU Auditorium/Fairchild Theatre already located in close proximity to this area. In this strategic location, the new College of Music Building would prominently anchor a revitalized arts district on campus.

PROGRAMMING STUDY
The University has engaged a nationally prominent team to plan and develop the building project. BOORA, Inc., of Portland, Oregon (performance architects), Kirkegaard Associates of Chicago (acousticians), and Auerbach of Chicago and San Francisco (theatre consultants), began a programming study in 2002 and created initial architectural conceptions.

The new facility would include an 800-seat concert hall, a Music Café, and several recital and large lecture halls for specialized rehearsal spaces for jazz, winds, orchestral, and choral ensembles. Plans also include bringing the music library, currently located in the main library, back to the music facility.

"A climate controlled facility with excellent acoustics, and expanded technological capabilities will provide an enhanced environment for the learning, research, and creative activities of future generations," said James Forger, director of the MSU College of Music. "The facility is designed to be a welcoming place for the many constituencies we serve," he added.

The facility as planned will include an accessible music therapy clinic and teaching space on the ground floor, as well as enhanced classroom and practice facilities.

The proposed building has been designated by the university's board of trustees as the first new academic building on campus. To make the facility a reality, it will require both private sector and state support.

To learn more about this effort and available gift naming opportunities, please contact Rebecca Surian, director of development, at (517) 353-4725.

Back to Top