CHLOE KOWALYK
Staff Writer
SUNY Fredonia faculty members Stuart Shapiro, Armand Petri and Dr. Linda Hall have been busy during the extended winter break.
Students can expect to return to a brand new renovation in Thompson Hall.
A new music industry venue was built in W101, where a large, empty stage had previously gone unused.
The venue is to accommodate the music industry class on live sound and touring.
This is exciting news for music industry students, since the program did not have a home on campus.
Music industry professors had been storing equipment for stage, sound and lighting in their offices.
“I’m so pleased that the music industry program will have its own venue and will be able to provide real-world production experiences for our students,” said Hall.
Hall said that she and the other professors “offered several ideas and plans to the academic space committee for the use of W101 as a stage/venue for the music industry’s experiential learning courses.”
The folding doors have been repurposed, the glass wall has been taken out and the projection system has been updated.
Originally, the renovation was set to take place last spring but was postponed as a result of COVID-19.
Now, the renovation is set to be completed by the start of classes in early February.
Not only have the professors organized the renovation, but they’ve also donated equipment.
Shapiro, for instance, donated a total of over $7,000 in equipment, including an acoustic guitar, two guitar amps, a bass guitar, bass amp, microphones, conga drums, a recording/PA console, a Ludwig drum set, lighting equipment and a 150-foot audio cable snake.
Hall donated a piano and Petri donated microphones, DJ equipment, another amplifier and an effects processor.
With over $20,000 in donations overall, Shapiro said that the venue should be “well-equipped for any event.”
The venue in Thompson Hall will be open to any group on campus that wants to use the equipment and facilities, including acapella groups, students who make music and other classes or groups who may want to book the hall for a presentation or performance.
Arrangements will be made through the music industry program, including booking the room, setting the stage, running the sound and lights and maybe even publicizing events, according to Petri and Shapiro.
“The music industry program requires students to take a class in live sound and touring. With the addition of this new facility, this will be a more intense, hands-on class, giving the students the necessary experience to run the equipment and operate the venue,” said Shapiro.
As for its appearance, Hall described the venue as “something akin to a decent-size music club, but with tiered seating, a school auditorium stage (without the wings) or a TedTalk stage.”
The performances may also be live-streamed, as the music industry students will be trained in recording techniques with a 32 channel live soundboard, Shapiro explained.
The venue is also wheelchair accessible and can seat 196 people in total. However, with COVID-19 guidelines, it can only seat less than 40 people.
As a result of the pandemic, the professors will wait to fill the seats until they can do so safely.
With the generosity of Hall, Shapiro and Petri, the music industry students have, at last, found a new home on campus.