New music building expands space

Senior Sean Gill spends two to three hours a day practicing marimba and vibraphone in the basement of the East Studio Building.

Before the recent completion of the East Studio Building, unveiled two weeks ago, the percussion performance major practiced in the Music Annex.

The annex previously did not provide enough space for percussion students and faculty and offered poor sound quality, Gill said. 

The ESB, dedicated two weeks ago after a year and a half of construction, offers Gill, students and faculty more rehearsal space in a state-of-the-art facility. The building serves as an entryway into the arts district of campus, Vice President for Capital Planning and Facilities Tom Morrison said.

“The Jacobs School of Music is arguably one of the finest music schools in the world,” Morrison said. “Rehearsal space for faculty was a continuing concern ... We want the facilities to match the quality of our students and faculty.”

While the ESB offers enough space for percussionists, Gill said he will miss the diversity of the Music Annex.

“We never get to see anyone else who we used to see all the time,” Gill said. “It was nice to have different people doing different things close by.”

The sound-proofing quality and instrument availability in the ESB benefits music students, Gill said.

“It’s definitely been a welcome improvement,” Gill said. “There have been complaints about old facilities since I got here ... Now it’s a lot easier to get a room when you want one.”

The ESB offers new audio and recording technologies, which Jacobs Executive Assistant Dean Eugene O’Brien said will benefit faculty.

The basement floor is designated for percussion players, while the first through fourth floors provide mixed use, including administrative and financial aid offices, undergraduate and graduate advising, faculty and student lounges and various studio spaces, O’Brien said.

“Those spaces will now be able to be used more by students individually,” Morrison said. “Where they might have had more trouble finding rehearsal space previously, now they’ll have more opportunity.”

The last important project was the renovation of Auer Hall, a small recital hall located on the second floor of the Simon Music Center.

“This is the first significant building that has been built for music probably since the MAC was built,” Morrison said.

The final cost of the ESB was around $38 million, said Morrison.

“On a pre-square-foot basis, it was probably more expensive than a normal project,” Morrison said. “Those rooms have to have sound insulation. That makes the building a little more expensive than normal, but not much so.”

The Lilly Endowment funded a majority of the project, Morrison said.

Graduate student Nick Stevens is an assistant instructor in the Jacobs School of Music and said he is enjoying the improved sound quality of the studios.

“As an AI, I have access to an amazing office, twice the size of the percussion AI offices in the previous percussion area,” Stevens said. “I am a percussionist, so I very much rely on practice facilities because I could not possibly own all of the instruments that a percussionist needs to know how to play.”

The new building also serves the purpose of acting as an entryway to the arts district of campus, Morrison said.

“The corner of Third and Jordan was designated as a building site,” Morrison said. “As you come up Jordan, we have the MAC, then the auditorium. We’re glad that it has been successful.”

In accordance with the Master Plan, the design of the ESB bridges IU’s two architectural styles of Gothic and modernity, Morrison said.
 
“The architects took great care in trying to design a building to be a transition from the Old Crescent,” Morrison said. “The architects did a great job of bridging those two styles.”

Gill, a percussion performance major, makes two to three trips to the ESB everyday and spends time there almost seven days a week.

After graduating, he will take his Jacobs degree and post-rock band Square Peg Round Hole to Philadelphia.

“We hope there will be better business for us there,” Gill said. “These rooms offer better practicing, which will hopefully pay off once we leave.”

Follow reporter Hannah Alani on twitter @hannahalani.