Dear College of Music Alumni and Friends,

This is a complicated time for Michigan State University.  In all our endeavors, one constant remains true: We focus on our students. This includes a focus on the climate, transparency of communications, lowering power barriers, and ensuring a learning environment that is both challenging and safe. One of the key elements in our plans to move the student learning environment forward includes the completion of a long-awaited building project that will significantly improve spaces in which students work (and preserve their hearing) for generations to come.

In April the MSU Board of Trustees approved a motion to proceed with a 37,000 square foot Music Pavilion. Pending final approval from interim president John Engler, construction plans will be set in motion for the new facility to be built immediately west and south toward West Circle Drive and attach to the façade of the current Music Building. The project will include approximately 8,500 square feet of renovated space in the venerable Music Building and Music Practice Building. 

Over time we have outgrown our 1939 facility as we transitioned from a department to a school to a college. We have also benefited from a plan to move forward with incremental facilities improvements, most recently through exceptional renovations to Cook Recital Hall and Fairchild Theatre. This next phase – a new Music Pavilion and Music Building renovations - will be transformational and will enable our fellowship-earning, hard-working, sought-after students as well as our highly acclaimed faculty to work in a more professional, safe, and cutting-edge environment. This will be accomplished through a variety of reinvented and new spaces with superb acoustics designed to advance learning and to protect health and wellness. You can view architectural renderings, but I’ll point out specifically the Percussion Area which, at the conclusion of this project, will literally go from the basement to the highest quality percussion space. And, we are pleased to announce that the Percussion Rehearsal Hall was recently named with a generous gift!

As our fundraising efforts continue – we have surpassed $11+M toward our $17.5M fundraising goal thanks to so many generous donors and friends, some of whom are profiled in this edition of e-news. There are still opportunities to name spaces in the new facility, and we welcome any and all inquiries into how you can become a part of this campaign. Please be in touch should you wish to participate in a way that would be meaningful to you.

We believe in changing the world through the power of music, and this spring, more than ever, we are thrilled as we embrace the future with great anticipation. We invite you to join us in making this transformation a reality.

Sincerely,

James Forger, Dean
College of Music