As prospective students of the performing arts arrive at the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ for a special event on Saturday, they will be treated to faculty recitals, speeches and refreshments. But the star of their tour will be the new School of the Performing Arts building, a $25 million project completed in August \u2014 just in time for the new school year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tight,\u201d said Paul Lartonoix, assistant dean of Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s College of Arts and Humanities.<\/p>\n
In fact, the building still smells new \u2014 and some rooms are awaiting finishing touches.<\/p>\n
But the offices and classrooms are complete, and on a recent weekday students were tap dancing to \u201cAll That Jazz\u201d in a new studio, while down the hall a professor lectured a costume-design class on Elizabethan-era menswear.<\/p>\n
The 75,000-square-foot building has a working theater-lighting lab so students can gain practical experience. And there\u2019s a music-instruction lab with music and computer keyboards at each student\u2019s desk that are all hooked into a sound system controlled by the instructor.<\/p>\n
Studio floors are low-impact for dancers\u2019 and actors\u2019 feet, but sturdy enough to support scenery and props.<\/p>\n
The floors and air ducts are constructed so sound cannot vibrate into adjoining spaces. Extra-thick walls and doors complete the soundproofing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re trying to do a percussion rehearsal in one room and a string quartet in the next room, it will work,\u201d said Christopher Niess, chairman and artistic director of the theater department.<\/p>\n
A theatrical design classroom, in which accurately seeing colors is key, received an exemption from Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s requirement of using energy-efficient, compact fluorescent light bulbs, which distort colors.<\/p>\n
As a whole, however, the building was constructed to be eco-conscious and is certified by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, an international evaluator of Earth-friendly buildings.<\/p>\n
Just as important as the technical specifications is the sense of purpose and collaboration forged by uniting the performing-arts disciplines in one structure, Niess said.<\/p>\n
Previously, classrooms and faculty offices were scattered across Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s sprawling campus.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust being there in the same location, we already have several projects using people from both music and theater,\u201d Niess said. For example, the upcoming play \u201cVinegar Tom\u201d will use some musicians as actors.<\/p>\n
The next phase of the project calls for adding a 520-seat theater, a smaller theater, a 600-seat concert hall and a smaller recital hall.<\/p>\n
Because the emphasis is on performance space instead of academic use, Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ is turning to private donations rather than state money. The Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Foundation, which raises funds for the university, has set a target of $65 million.<\/p>\n
Though there\u2019s no firm timetable for construction \u2014 it all depends on when the money is raised \u2014 Lartonoix said three years was \u201coptimistic but not out of the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Niess is focused on future students and what Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ can now offer them. The music and theater programs have been attracting more interest each year; about 550 are now in the theater program and 260 are music majors.<\/p>\n
In the past, Niess said, students would become interested in Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ at recruitment fairs and conferences, but then lose their interest when they saw the school\u2019s scattered, cramped classrooms.<\/p>\n
He likes the message he\u2019ll be able to give the potential students at Saturday\u2019s recruitment event: \u201cWe have the faculty to make your experience wonderful, but now we have the facilities, too, to give you a competitive edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: OrlandoSentinel.com, Orlando Arts Blog, Nov. 19, 2010, Matt Palm, Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½’s new recruitment tool: $25 million School of Performing Arts<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As prospective students of the performing arts arrive at the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ for a special event on Saturday, they will be treated to faculty recitals, speeches and refreshments. But the star of their tour will be the new School of the Performing Arts building, a $25 million project completed in August \u2014 just in time for the new…","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":18116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[883,17023,2421,2801,14915,3680,4165,14919,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-18115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","tag-christopher-niess","tag-college-of-arts-and-humanities","tag-jazz","tag-leed","tag-music","tag-performing-arts-center","tag-school-of-performing-arts","tag-theatre-ucf","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n