New music building kicks off $17 M in summer construction
Janel Shoun |
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Left to right, Congressman Jim Cooper; Lipscomb President Randy Lowry; Lipscomb’s full-time music faculty: Department Chair Marcia Hughes, Jerry Reed, Gary Wilson, Donna King and David Hamrick; and |
A new wing of Burton Bible Building dedicated solely to Lipscomb’s music department, is just the overture to Lipscomb’s summer season of construction, to include more than $17 million worth of projects before next fall’s students arrive.
On Friday, April 27, the university hosted a ground-breaking for the new music wing, a 10,000-square-foot, $2.2 million addition to the Burton Bible Building, the hub of the Lipscomb campus since the 1940s. The ceremony was held at 1 p.m., in the grassy area south of Collins Alumni Auditorium, near Lipscomb’s signature Bison statue. It was followed by a dessert reception in the Swang Center.
“The groundbreaking of the music building realizes not only the dream of the current faculty but of those in previous years, especially former chairs Dr. James L. Jackson, Dr. Gerald Moore, and Dr. Larry Griffith,” said current music department chair Marcia Hughes. “After years of offering quality programs to the campus and Nashville communities, we are excited about the increased visibility that this central location will provide for us and our programs.”
The two-story music wing will house a rehearsal room for Lipscomb’s instrumental ensembles and nine studios for students and instructors. Lipscomb’s choral ensembles will rehearse in Ward Hall, renovated in summer 2006.
Lipscomb’s music department has been providing quality music education for more than 100 years. This past school year eight student music ensembles performed throughout the year, and the department coordinates the annual Artist Series and Faculty and Friends Series for the campus and Nashville communities. The department also hosts the statewide Christian High School Choral Festival, the Middle Tennessee Vocal Association Mid-State concerts and the Nashville Area Music Teachers Association Pianorama.
“Community groups such as the Nashville Wind Ensemble and the Nashville Double Reed Ensemble rehearse in our facilities and often perform on our campus,” Hughes said. “With the renovation of Ward Hall and the upcoming renovation of Collins Alumni Auditorium, we look forward to hosting more musical events for both the campus and larger community.
“With this new facility we look forward to continuing the Lipscomb mission of equipping performers and teachers to share music which we believe allows us to contemplate the mystery of God's positive creative nature and to speak of what it is to be human.”
The music wing is just the beginning of the summer construction boom at Lipscomb. Approximately $17 million in construction projects are planned to begin on campus before the end of the summer:
May will bring a renovation of the Burton Bible Building for Lipscomb’s new College of Pharmacy and an update of Collins Alumni Auditorium;
June will begin a revamp of the lower level of the Student Center, creating a more open space and offices for the student life departments;
August will bring the first two of 11 planned residential buildings built in an apartment style; and
Work on the existing residence hall lobbies and a stormwater drainage system for the Ezell Center will continue throughout the summer.