About the New Building
The new Music Building will officially open to the public following the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 10 a.m. on March 31, 2011. Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio will be a special guest and speaker at the event, hosted by USF President Judy Genshaft and USF College of The Arts Dean Ron Jones. Audiences will be able to tour the new building designed by two architecture firms: Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas & Company of Tampa, and Performance Architecture of New Orleans (Associated Architects for interior design). The acoustics were designed by acoustic and A/V consultants BAI LLC of Austin, TX.
From foundation to final touches the new building was designed meticulously for the music educator or performer in mind.
- Every performance or practice room is built separate from the foundation, in each case creating a “floating" room within a room.
- No performance or rehearsal spaces within the building have parallel walls that would create unwanted sound reflection. Rooms are separated by multi layers of drywall, insulation, and air space.
- The HVAC system, designed by BCH Mechanical, includes over 200 sound attenuating devices and a dual ductwork system that completely eliminates noise from the air flow and stops sound from traveling room to room.
- The building features a 485 seat concert hall; a 116 seat recital hall; separate instrumental, choral, and jazz rehearsal halls; and a percussion suite. All have professional grade recording and playback capabilities, as well as teacher stations that include : easy access and control of computer, document camera, projector, video cameras, and other electronic technology.
- A unique feature of the concert hall is the 32-ton acoustic “cloud" which is suspended above the stage. It consists of a system of reflectors that can be raised or lowered to alter the acoustical ambience of the hall. Further alterations to room response are made possible by a system of adjustable drapes.
- There are 49 practice rooms of varying size, each of which is wired for the internet and each includes a “panic button" which will communicate directly to campus law enforcement.
- There are 32 studios with adjustable acoustics for performance faculty and 25 offices for scholar faculty.
- There are four general use “smart" classrooms; two libraries with compact storage to house performance scores and parts; a dedicated music education classroom which features an extra large space for specialized instruments and for activities requiring movement, and computer lab with distance learning capabilities; and a composition lab containing 20 work stations, each having an 88 key keyboard interfaced with a high end computer, and a full teacher station.
- There is a Conference Center that is capable of seating 226 and can be divided into two rooms with seating for 110 and 106. The rooms can also be arranged with nesting tables and 68 chairs per room. Each half of the room is equipped with a separate AV smart podium, projector, and screen. The room may also be set up with 11 round dining/conference tables with a total capacity of 88 chairs. The lobby area is large and designed for registration and session break areas.
Overall project budget was approximately $46.6 million with approximately $37.6 million in construction costs. Music students will not only benefit from the fantastic new building, they will also benefit from approximately $3.5 million in new instruments and equipment which includes: $150,000 in new recording and composition software and equipment; new instruments for the dedicated music education, percussion, and jazz classrooms; new digital pianos and software for the digital piano lab and approximately $70,000 in specialized instruments.
In addition, last year President Judy Genshaft announced the university initiative to become an All- Steinway School; an esteemed designation which means that from practice rooms to recital halls throughout the School of Music, only Steinway & Sons pianos will be in use. Currently USF's School of Music owns 13 Steinway pianos and a Boston piano, but with the help of private funding the hope is to purchase approximately 100 pianos.
USF will join a prestigious list of conservatories, colleges, universities and other institutions that have committed to use only the best pianos including The Julliard School, Yale School of Music, Carnegie-Mellon University, George Mason University and the University of London. Steinway stands on a 157-year history of crafting pianos that are used by nine out of ten concert artists and innumerable pianists, composers and performers.
Welcoming visitors and students to the new Concert Hall and Conference Center will be two dry fresco murals. Visual artist Janaina Tschäpe, has been commissioned for the two spaces one measures approximately 33' x 15,' and the other measures 52' x 17.'
Born in Munich, Germany, Tschäpe currently lives and works between New York and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Hochschule fur Bilende Kuenste, Hamburg and her Master in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, New York. Tschäpe's work has been shown in numerous exhibitions throughout the world including Tokyo, São Paloa, London, and Berlin.
Join Us!
Please plan to join us for the following events. For additional information about all of our events visit music.arts.usf.edu.
March 31 10am School of Music Ribbon Cutting March 31 6pm Public Art Dedication April 3 4pm School of Music Opening Gala New Beginnings: Previews and Premieres
For ticket information visit music.arts.usf.edu Inaugural Series Five nights of originals, debuts, previews or premieres; the inaugural series will showcase the new Concert Hall in its best light.
For ticket information visit music.arts.usf.edu
April 4 8pm The Solo Piano and Solo Violin Works of Augusta Reed Thomas
April 9 7pm Master Chorale of Tampa Bay presents A Red Rose: Music of
American Master René Clausen
April 10 4pm Steinway Celebration
April 25 8pm Monday Night Jazz: “Surging Forward"
May 2 8pm Florida Wind Band presents Music for Festive Occasions
Celebration Series
Six nights of the best of USF!
For ticket information visit music.arts.usf.edu
April 5 8pm USF Percussion Ensemble
April 15 8pm USF Opera presents Cosi fan Tutte ("The School for Lovers")
Encore performance April 17 at 2pm
April 18 8pm USF Jazz Ensemble 1
April 21 8pm USF Choirs presents Song of Sorrows
April 28 8pm Wind Band Masterworks: Affirming the Old and Presenting the New
April 29 8pm USF SYCOM presents Still Alive and Well 6
About USF and the School of Music
The University of South Florida is one of the nation's top 63 public research universities and one of only 25 public research universities nationwide with very high research activity that is designated as community engaged by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. USF was awarded $394.1 million in research contracts and grants in FY 2009/2010. The university offers 232 degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine. The USF System has a $1.8 billion annual budget, an annual economic impact of $3.2 billion, and serves more than 47,000 students on institutions/campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland. USF is a member of the Big East Athletic Conference.
The USF School of Music is an exciting place for study and performance in one of the most artistically active areas in Florida. There are many incentives that attract music students to USF, including distinguished artist faculty, splendid ensembles that perform regularly at state, regional and national music events, an exceptional jazz studies program, one of the most complete electronic music studios in the nation (SYCOM), a visionary music education program, and an environment that boasts a wide range of excellent cultural activities.
The School of Music presents over 150 lectures, concerts or symposia every year; allowing our students to work with, learn from, and engage with the very best music has to offer.
Please contact Ashleigh Gallant for additional information. Interviews are available with faculty, students and staff.
