The MSU College of Music officially realized a dream come true by cutting the ribbon on the Billman Music Pavilion—a state-of-the-art facility, purpose-built for music study, practice, and performance. On Friday, Oct. 1, the College celebrated the expansion and improvement of facilities with a music-filled open house.  

Crews completed much of the pavilion construction in the spring of 2020, but the pandemic caused delays in the celebration. The pavilion first opened to students and faculty in the fall of 2020 under COVID-19 safety protocols. This fall was the first opportunity to celebrate with students, faculty, donors, and members of the MSU and surrounding community. 

“With the opening of the spectacular Billman Pavilion including renovated spaces in the Music Building, the College of Music students and faculty enter a new era which greatly enhances learning and collaboration as well as health and wellness,” said James Forger, dean of the College of Music. “The advanced recording, video, and technical capabilities open new curricular possibilities and ways to effectively communicate our considerable strengths far and wide. We are poised to rocket forward.” 

More than 600 people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of the College of Music facilities at 333 W. Circle Drive on MSU’s campus. With opening music provided by the Spartan Jazz Quintet and the MSU Wind Symphony, the ceremonial part of the day included remarks from Forger, faculty and student representatives, MSU Board of Trustees member Melanie Foster, MSU President Samuel Stanley Jr., M.D., and the named benefactor of the pavilion, Dr. James K. Billman, Jr.  

After years of planning, the College led a successful fundraising campaign. Billman, numerous major donors, and many in the greater community including over 80% of College of Music faculty and staff, understood the need and made generous gifts to support the construction of the student-focused facility. The $41.5 million project set a goal of $17.5 million privately raised dollars with the remainder provided by the University. The total raised from private donors topped $17.8 million.  

The Billman Music Pavilion consists of 37,000-square feet of new space with 8,500-square feet of renovated space. One of the most significant benefits of the Billman Music Pavilion is the 40% increase in overall facilities. Enhanced or new spaces include those for individual and group practice, chamber music, large ensembles, opera, jazz, student networking and gathering, streaming and recording, scholarly research and presentation, and live audience performance. In addition, the facility has 45 new practice rooms and multi-functional spaces that include four new rehearsal halls, two new performance spaces, and two large classrooms.   

The College of Music began incremental facility improvements with the renovations of Cook Recital Hall in 2013 and Fairchild Theatre in the MSU Auditorium in 2014. Each included dramatic acoustic and design updates. The same design and build teams from those projects joined forces with faculty-led committees to create a plan for the Billman Music Pavilion, and renovations started in June 2018.  

The intent from the start was to align College facilities with the high level of talent among MSU faculty and students. A significant overhaul of the percussion studio, for instance, is transforming the experience of current and future percussion students by moving rehearsal and studio spaces from the basement to a modern, purpose-built rehearsal hall, multiple large practice spaces, and state-of-the-art teaching studios with top-rate acoustics and technology.  

As a whole, the enhanced facilities ensure a 21st-century learning environment for all music students while celebrating the history of the original 1939 building constructed through the Works Progress Administration. The physical transformation helps the College grow leading-edge programs, attract and retain talent, and strengthen the College’s position on national and world stages. The College boasts prominent programs in instrumental and vocal performance, jazz, conducting, music education, composition, music history, music theory, and studies in entrepreneurship and career readiness. 

“I stand here today grateful to everyone who made it possible for all of us to share this time of celebration, not only for this historic moment but for the future of the College of Music,” said Sean Holland II, a senior majoring in vocal performance and music education, in his remarks to the crowd gathered at the ceremony. “The acoustics in the large rehearsal spaces and the practice rooms are phenomenal, so music students from around the world are now able to collaborate and rehearse in new and innovative ways.” 

The state-of-the-art facility attaches to the façade of the current Music Building and integrates with the classic exterior style of MSU’s north campus. The Lansing-based Christman Company served as construction manager. Bora Architects from Portland, Oregon, collaborated with faculty to ensure the design conformed to teaching and performance needs. TMP Architecture of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, added their expertise. Acousticians Kirkegaard Associates of Chicago, Illinois, brought advanced artistic and scientific understanding to deliver sound-sensitive construction based on floor thickness, shape and height of rooms, and materials and systems between walls.  

“I can’t thank our donors enough,” said Professor of Music, Director of Bands, and Chair of the Conducting Area Kevin Sedatole. “From Dean Forger and the faculty planning team, to the architects, acousticians, and the construction experts, the pavilion took off and, more importantly for faculty and students, it sounds terrific.” 

The overall result is a quiet, protected environment for interactive classwork, practicing, rehearsing, recording, and performing that aids students in preparing and building successful careers. Flexible, “right-sized,” and artistically and scientifically advanced, the new and renovated spaces are poised to meet the needs of nearly 70 full-time faculty, 600 full-time students working on music degrees, and about 2,000 additional students participating in ensembles and classes. 

While the lead gift from Billman set the expansion and renovation of the College of Music facilities in motion, several donors made gifts of a million dollars or more.  

• Craig and Lisa Murray of California, and their daughters Jessie, Courtney, and Becca, are honored with the naming of Murray Hall for the principal use of jazz and the Murray Family Terrace on the front face of the building.  
• The significant contribution of MSU Trustee Emerita Dolores Cook and her late husband, Byron, of Greenville, Michigan, is recognized with the naming of the Cook Main Floor in the Billman Music Pavilion. They are also the named donors of the Cook Recital Hall to which they donated for renovations completed in 2013.   
• The naming of Eichler Hall, a rehearsal space for large ensembles and future home to an innovative ambisonics speaker system, recognizes the generosity of Edwin H. Eichler and Wanda Hayes Eichler of Pigeon, Michigan.  
• The late Stanley and Selma Hollander, generous benefactors to the arts at MSU for many years, were recognized with the naming of Hollander Hall, a newly renovated space for student recitals, choir, and opera rehearsals.  

A major donor wall recognizes 80 donor households that made five, six and seven-figure gifts. Hundreds more contributed below that threshold. In all, fundraising efforts revealed a significant commitment to the musical arts from members of the MSU community and a belief that students and faculty musicians at MSU deserve high-quality facilities and spaces designed specifically for the study and performance of music.  

“I have said and still believe that while our music students and faculty do great things using what they have, they deserve a better place to rehearse, to teach, and to study,” said Billman, a 1968 Natural Science and Honors College graduate of MSU and member of the College of Music National Leadership Council. “It is beyond words how happy I am to see this facility open and available for everyone. It is a beautiful space.” 

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Private gifts play a vital role in our ability to maintain and enhance the quality of the programs we offer. Donations support student scholarships, fellowships, program endowments, instrument acquisitions, guest artists, outreach activities, operations, and many other crucial areas that make the College of Music an exemplary place of learning. If you are interested in making a gift, please contact the Advancement Office at (517) 353-9872.