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College of Fine
Arts and Communication Recital Hall Opens
WIU's College of Fine Arts and Communication
(COFAC) will open its new recital hall for concerts and recitals
this month.
Several individual student and faculty recitals
are tentatively scheduled for the facility; however, one of the
first major public events in the recital hall will be the annual
Band Showcase, Feb. 22-23. The two major concerts for Band
Showcase scheduled for the COFAC Recital Hall include the WIU
Symphonic Wind Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22 and
the Band Showcase finale concert at 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb.
23. These events are open free to the public.
The facility will allow the theatre department
to more freely use Hainline Theatre for their performances. The
music and theatre departments have been sharing the Hainline Theatre
facility for years.
The COFAC Recital Hall is a 500-seat facility
designed specifically for the performance of music. Funds for
the $4.3 million project came from the state of Illinois as well
as an allocation of dollars from Western. Renovations to the northern
wing and former gymnasium in Simpkins Hall began in September
2000 to retrofit the structure into a recital hall.
The 8,000-square-foot recital hall features
stage space that can accommodate up to 125 performers. The facility
will also include a green room for performing artists, warm-up
rooms, storage space for instruments, a control room/recording
booth and a 1,400-square-foot lobby that will include a coatroom,
box office and restrooms. The lobby has also been designed to
allow for the exhibition of artwork and will feature a commissioned
sculpture by Chicago artist Joyce Lopez.
Work will continue on the recital hall into
the summer. As construction crews finish work on the operational
rooms during February. Also, this summer, the College of Fine
Arts and Communication will install a donor recognition wall to
honor individuals who gave a significant gift to the project.
For more information about the COFAC Recital
Hall, contact Debra Miller at 298-1552, or e-mail DS-Miller1@wiu.edu.
Additional information about the Recital Hall, including construction
photos and a historical outline of Simpkins Hall, is available
on the web at www.wiu.edu/recitalhall.
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