January 4, 2007: Volume 69, Number 1

Music gets a jazzy new home at Union

The $4 million makeover of the North Colonnade is nearly complete. Now it's time to make some music.

Students and faculty began classes on Jan. 3 in the new Taylor Music Center. The renovation and addition of a new music hall was largely completed in late December and will be formally celebrated in a special event this spring.

The centerpiece of the building is Emerson Hall, a 100-seat hall equipped with teaching space and state-of-the-art recording technology that will be used by the College’s Choir, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble. Surrounding the hall are practice rooms, high-tech classrooms and faculty offices.

“It’s a beautiful, functional building. But it has a little extra. It has grace. It has elegance. It has the latest technology, whether it be the music stands or the Steinway B or the music tech studio. We are beyond fine. We really are,” said Hilary Tann, who is the John Howard Payne Professor of Music and chaired the Performing Arts Department from 1991 to 2003.

By the end of January, the practice rooms and offices will house 13 new pianos purchased by the College to replace the old pianos and electronic keyboards. Made by Steinway and Sons and valued at more than $200,000, the pianos will give the College a prestigious ranking as an All-Steinway School. The College is actively raising funds to support the Steinway campus initiative.

The majority of Union students enrolled in music classes are not music majors, said Tim Olsen, chair of the Music Department. Music courses are filled with students like Heidi Ching `10, who is a pre-med student, an accomplished pianist and a lover of music. 

"Sometimes the most active students are actually non-majors," Olsen said. "Being a musician is an untenable life. Students' parents want them to be a doctor rather than a musician, because you won't end up living in their basement." 

The Taylor Music Center was largely funded by brothers James W. Taylor ’66 and John Taylor '74, who own the Gloversville, N.Y.-based Taylor Made Group. The company is a leader in the boating industry, manufacturing windshields and supplying after-market products.

The pair gave $1.5 million to fund the renovation project, which marked a much-needed upgrade for the Music Department.

“We’re both interested in supporting music and the arts at Union and feel that’s a fitting place for our gift,” said John Taylor, who majored in computer science and also studied psychology. His son Bryan is a member of the Class of 2008.

The North Colonnade, located in the campus’ historic Ramée section, was constructed in 1815, made into a physics laboratory in 1852 and renovated again in 1977, according to a plaque on the corner of the building.

“What it does, to my mind, is to give a sense that the College values what music has to offer,” Tann said. “Music has been part of the add-on to the College. Now the College is saying, 'We are complete. There is another side to being a student.’ There is a deep appreciation of something that is not words, that is not numbers.”

 

 

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