STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State breaks ground April 7 for a new, much-anticipated 18,000-square-foot university band and choral rehearsal hall.
The 3 p.m. public ceremony at the corner of Blackjack and Hardy roads will include comments from university officials, alumni members of the Famous Maroon Band, and current band and choir students.
The University Wind Ensemble and Concert Choir also will be featured in a brief performance.
"This facility is a dream come true for our department," said Michael E. Brown, head of music education. "It will provide much-needed space for our band, symphonic band and choral programs."
In use for decades, the current band hall is a renovated campus maintenance building with only about 4,100 square feet of assignable space when constructed in 1939.
Designed by Eley Associates/Architects of Jackson, the new facility will include practice areas, as well as room for storage and two music libraries. Construction will begin this summer, with an anticipated 2007 completion.
Both music majors and non-majors participate in many of the department's ensembles, including the 280-member Famous Maroon Band. Approximately 1,500 students annually take the department's courses in music appreciation.
For more information about the music education department, visit http://music.msstate.edu/.
For more information about the groundbreaking, telephone Nancy Reichert in the Office of Academic Affairs at (662) 325-3742.
