Thursday, Sept. 28, the College of William and Mary board of visitors toured the Campus’s new Performing Arts Complex.
Director of Facilities, Planning Design and Construction Dan Pisaniello led board members through the music building, which he described as having the themes of openness and cleanliness. Upon entering the Music Building’s main performance space, which seats approximately 500 guests, board members were greeted with an unexpected performance by a student organist and instructor. This included a rendition of the Alma Mater, with some board members joining in to shout, “Hark! Hark! Hark!”
Pisaniello then led board members through the Music Building’s box-in-box soundproof practice rooms, which far outnumber those in Ewell Hall. In terms of student feedback, Pisaniello said music and theater students, as well as students with a hobby in the arts, are excited about the additional practice opportunities that the new rooms offer.
At one tour stop, a board member questioned the space’s lack of College branding. He presented the lack of branding as a missed opportunity, as such efforts would be inexpensive. College President Katherine Rowe explained plans to include the College’s cypher in the space. Rowe also praised the Commonwealth of Virginia for its investment in the College’s Performing Arts Center.
“What institution gets $125 million for the arts?” Rowe said.
The tour proceeded to Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall, home to the College’s Main Stage Theater, Studio Theater, Laboratory Theater, Scene Shop, Light Lab and Costume Shop. Board members also visited the lobby space shared by performance venues, the Dance Lab and Black Box Theater – a dual-functional classroom and performance space with over 200 seats, a control booth, a walkable ceiling grid and the Scene Shop.
Relics of the original Phi Beta Kappa Hall remain, including the structural columns that stand in the Main Stage Theater, while the stage and lift have been restored.
Before sitting down for lunch, President Rowe and board member Barbara L. Johnson J.D. ’84 tested the performance space’s acoustics with a memorized recitation of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73.
