The Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall provides seating for 1,018 patrons to enjoy the remarkable acoustics and architectural beauty of this Prairie Gothic style performance space. The space is acoustically designed to be a pure concert hall, rather than an auditorium, with a gridded ceiling that allows music to rise and fill the space without overwhelming patrons. The Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall is the largest formal assembly area on campus. Response to the sounds of the hall have been overwhelmingly positive, as is student reaction to the state-of-the-art equipment that records their performances. A sound room overlooks the hall to allow in-house recordings of all events; technicians can record CDs directly during a concert and give students copies of their recitals 10 minutes after the last note is heard.

Walking through the majestic Grayce B. Kerr Gothic Hall, one of a triad of performance facilities that comprise the Catlett Music Center, evokes the resonance and drama of a Renaissance cathedral. Footsteps echo off the hard brick walls and floating concrete floors, reverberating an astounding 4.5 seconds as the sound soars to the 75-foot vaulted ceiling and streams down, engulfing the pedestrian. Crossing the threshold into the vestibule of the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall plunges the concertgoer into a chamber of virtual sensory deprivation, where noise is muffled, almost ceasing to exist. Entrance into the hall proper brings the sound back up, preparing the listener for an emotional response to the music being played.

The vestibule area of the Paul F Sharp Concert Hall grants multiple pathways for patrons to choose their seats. Sound absorbing wall treatments insure the subtle illusion that one is entering a library and create a sound barrier between the hall proper and the bustling activity outside the hall. Featured in the vestibule is a bust of Dr. Sharp along with areas to display information related to a performance. Outside the hall are restroom facilities, a well-equipped concession area, and the School of Music's Ticket Office.

The elevated, octagonal, hardwood floored performance stage in Sharp measures 60' wide by 40' deep. A state of the art lighting system provides uniform colored lighting while insuring that the lighting fixtures are not obtrusive to the performer's eyes. Even though one might hear a pin drop on the stage from any seat in the house, a state of the art audio system is provided. The recording studio quality audio system allows every nuance of a performance to be accurately captured on digital media. Complete video capability is available including the capability to stream live performances to the internet. Flanking the performance area on three sides is the Choir balcony. The right and left balconies offer two standing levels and are 10' deep by 30' long. The center balcony offers another 30' wide by 10' deep area on a single level.

The ceiling treatment within Sharp Concert Hall is designed to admit sound into a 15' high equipment area above the seats where it can be attenuated. The area directly over the performance stage is filled in to reflect sound into the room while the area over and around the 1,018 seats is designed to enhance reverberation without creating annoying echoes and distortions. Above the ceiling are the room's HVAC ducting which has been designed for "library quiet" operation. As one walks around the orchestra floor and balcony seating areas the sound heard from the performance area is uniform in volume and contains all the acoustic clarity and nuance the performance is imparting. In Sharp Hall it doesn't matter if it is a solo piano performance or the entire Sooner Orchestra and Choir performing together, the room acoustics don't overwhelm the listener relaxing in the comfortable seating.

The balcony seating is extended along the side walls of the 85' wide hall as shown in the image above. The wall surfaces of the concert hall are set at irregular angles to control sound reflections within the room. As the main orchestra floor seating rises up towards the back of the hall, the staggered seating affords every patron both an unobstructed view of the performance area as well as "the perfect seat" from which to enjoy an orchestral concert or choir offering.

Standing on the performance stage one quickly notices the use of thick plate glass panels across the rear of the orchestral seating area and along the side walls to provide acoustic separation of the seating areas from the vestibule and pedestrian hallway areas. The glass imparts a spaciousness to the design while providing the necessary hard reflective surfaces necessary to maintain a flat acoustic room signature. The comfortable green upholstered seats provide cozy intimate seating comparable to one's favorite home chair.

To accommodate those with mobility concerns, the hallways within Sharp are ramped and include handrails. Wall surfaces are treated with acoustically absorbent materials to limit sound transmission into the seating areas. Parking is never a problem as the University operates the Elm Avenue Parking Facility which is a five level parking garage offering 576 parking spaces including sixteen disability spaces for those with OU permits. A short walk from Catlett is the 171 space Oklahoma Memorial Union Parking Garage.

The School of Music is housed in the Catlett Music Center on the north end of the campus, the entrance to which is a striking contemporary space of cathedral proportions. The Morris R. Pitman Recital Hall and the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall both open off this grand space as does a corridor leading to the classrooms and teaching studios.

The Grayce B. Kerr Gothic Hall houses the Mildred Andrews Boggess Memorial Organ, a $750,000 instrument designed specifically for the School of Music by the C. B. Fisk Company. Kerr Gothic Hall serves as a grand entrance to the School of Music and a lobby for the performance spaces in the Catlett Music Center. The large interior entry space identified as Gothic Hall is architecturally unique due to its high volume of space, play of light through the large east exterior windows, and use of structural elements to capture the essence of the “Old Gothic Hall Cathedrals”. During the day, sunlight filters through the large stained glass windows into the hall and at night the interior lighting filters out through the windows dramatically lighting the east face like a jewel. The upper north end of the space houses a fully functional organ assembly so that vocal and music performance can be accomplished within the space.

Imagine an instrument that can express the full range of human emotion, one that evokes the past and paints visions of the future. Now imagine a place where students can acquire the artistry to perform, maintain and craft such an instrument while simultaneously honing the skills to make a worthwhile living.

The University of Oklahoma’s American Organ Institute combines scholarship, performance, technical skill and craftsmanship to produce the world’s greatest organists, organ technicians, and organ scholars. We are able to accomplish this through the applied science of organ building and a triptych curriculum of Classical, Theatrical and Sacred music study.

Many aspects of the “King of Instruments” are uniquely American from the vaudeville organists of the teens and twenties, to the silent film artists of the mid to late 1920s, and in more modern times fabulous theatrical organists. The legacy of the pipe organ deserves to be not only preserved but enhanced with today’s technology and skill as it has been over and over since its creation nearly a millennia ago. The American Organ Institute stands to reclaim, reinvigorate, and reinvent the time honored traditions of pipe organ building, playing, and music making by preparing and equipping students for careers as performers, teachers, and technicians.

The American Organ Institute (AOI) is a comprehensive program and facilities located within the University of Oklahoma's School of Music and the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts. Its goal is to become the leading center for the art of American organ playing, composing, pedagogy, and organ building. The AOI will house and maintain a collection of the finest examples of American Organ building, both past and present.

Organ studies at the University of Oklahoma began with the nearly four-decade tenure of Mildred Andrews Boggess (1941-1979), during which time it grew to become one of the most highly regarded organ programs in the United States. Professor Boggess produced more Fulbright Scholars among organ students (35) and national organ competition winners than any other organ teacher in American history. OU graduates hold academic and church-related positions across the United States. They are parish directors of music, university professors, choral conductors, and concert performers. With the formation of the American Organ Institute in 2006, OU will become the leader in the world of the pipe organ in ways heretofore unimagined.

Under the direction of Dr. John Daniel Schwandt, the American Organ Institute was founded in 2006 to lift up and celebrate American contributions to pipe organ design, building, and playing. The philosophy behind the Institute is to unite the worlds of the classical and theater pipe organ, advancing the art by emphasizing improvisation in all genres along with the performance of classical repertoire. A fresh curriculum will include courses in arranging, computer notation, and multiple styles of composition – a return to the classic concept of the complete organist: one-third performance, one-third improvisation, one-third composition.

An integral part of the Institute is the establishment of a fully equipped and staffed pipe organ workshop on campus. This unique facility will be home to the restoration of an important instrument acquired in 2006 by the University for the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall at the School of Music. Möller Opus 5819, envisioned as the crown-jewel of the OU pipe organ collection, and other instruments in the future will allow students the opportunity for hands-on experience with organbuilding, even to providing pipe organ maintenance services for the general Oklahoma City area. Future generations of organ students graduating from OU will be well-versed with knowledge of organ design and construction, in addition to organ history and music theory. As the only college or university in the nation with a working pipe organ shop, those wishing to learn the technical side of pipe organ construction, maintenance, and repair will discover the AOI facilities equivalent to the best pipe organ shops in North America.

There will be three degree tracks (Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts) each allowing flexible emphasis of applied studies to include classic and theater organ playing as well as organbuilding. The program also offers an Artist's Diploma. Noted organists and pipe organ builders have endorsed the AOI program at the University of Oklahoma.

The School of Music is housed in the Catlett Music Center on the north end of the OU campus; the entrance to which is a striking contemporary space of cathedral proportions. The Morris R. Pitman Recital Hall and the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall both open off this grand space as does a corridor leading to the classrooms and teaching studios. This “lobby” is called the Grace B. Kerr Gothic Hall and is home to the Mildred Andrews Boggess Memorial Organ, C. B. Fisk’s Opus 111. With three manuals and forty-five ranks, it’s funny to think of this as a “lobby organ” but this is no ordinary lobby. The ceiling is very high with contemporary interpretations of gothic vaulting, the organ is placed in a high balcony at one end of the room, the reverberation period is 4.5 seconds, and both visual and aural effects are magnificent.

As a public institution, the University of Oklahoma is supported by public as well as private funding. The American Organ Institute, in conjunction with the University's Development Office, seeks the support of interested institutions and individuals in order to expand the programs offered as well as provide student scholarships. AOI has prepared an introductory booklet describing the AOI vision and program. This booklet may be reviewed by interested individuals and institutions thinking about financially supporting the program by clicking on the booklet's cover shown below-left.

The University of Oklahoma enrolls almost 30,000 students, has more than 2,000 full- time faculty members, and has 20 colleges offering 152 majors at the baccalaureate level, 160 majors at the masters level, 80 majors at the doctoral level, 38 majors at the first professional level, and 18 graduate certificates. We are the first in the nation per capita among public universities in the number of National Merit Scholars enrolled. Seven hundred National Merit Scholars are currently enrolled at OU.

The mission of the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts is to provide the highest quality performance, exhibition, teaching, creative ability, and research, through a diversity of activities and arts experiences. Equally, the mission of the School of Music is to foster excellence in creative activity, research, teaching, and service, through involvement of the faculty and students in public performance, media presentations, research publications and other creative activities. The College of Fine Arts produces nearly 300 concerts, recitals, dramas, musicals, operas and dance performances each year, as well as numerous art exhibitions. The recent formation of the American Organ Institute is yet another example of OU's commitment to the fine arts.

Your private partnership in the American Organ Institute is vital to our success. Your gifts to the AOI will ensure that students will have the best creative and educational opportunities available anywhere in the U.S. Gifts can be made to the AOI in the following ways: matching gifts, gifts of cash, securities, real estate, life insurance, deferred or planned gifts. For more information, contact John Riester, (405) 325-7829 or email jriester 'at' ou 'dot' edu ['at'=@, 'dot'=.]

Historically known as Holmberg Hall

The Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center, built in 1918 as part of the University of Oklahoma’s original campus, is one of Oklahoma’s most historic buildings and one of the university’s key educational and community facilities. Originally named simply The Auditorium (1918) and renamed Holmberg Hall (1938), after Fredrick Holmberg who was the Professor of Music and later became the first Dean of the College of Fine Arts. Then in 2002 the building began a multimillion dollar renovation. The original building with the addition of the new dance wing and renovated practice rooms were renamed the Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center (2005), after Donald W. Reynolds.

The Building’s centerpiece is Oklahoma’s only European-style performance hall, the setting for appearances by famous visitors to Oklahoma, generations of OU student performers, and a wide range of community activities. Sometimes called “Oklahoma’s meeting house,” the building has housed some of the state’s most memorable events.

When President William Howard Taft, statesman William Jennings Bryan, poet William Butler Yeats, Composer Aaron Copland, and dancer Martha Graham came to Oklahoma, they came to the Reynolds Performing Arts Center (historically known as Holmberg Hall). Former high school students from across the state remember it as the site of music, band, and speech competitions and events.

In addition, many of the University of Oklahoma’s landmark events, from OU President James Buchanan’s funeral to football Coach Bud Wilkinson’s national trophy presentation, were held in the facility. OU President David L. Boren chose this stage as the place to announce his acceptance of the OU Presidency and resignation from the United States Senate.

The Ruby Grant Piano Pedagogy Resource Center houses the latest in teaching materials and equipment. It is a center for research in the field by graduate students and visiting scholars on sabbatical leave from colleges and universities throughout the country. The resource center (Catlett Rooms 003 and 004) features a Yamaha keyboard, Macintosh computer, DVD player, video cameras and playback facilities for viewing and listening to tapes, CDs, and DVDs. Numerous current books on piano pedagogy, piano playing, teaching, learning theories, and other topics, musical scores, and periodicals are also housed here. The Ruby Grant Piano Pedagogy Resource Center is a hub for much of the activity in the piano pedagogy programs at the University of Oklahoma.

Music and Research Materials in the Ruby Grant Piano Pedagogy Resource Center

This center is unique and the heart of student activity in the program. Some of the materials housed in the resource center are listed below.

• Books on music, piano playing, piano teaching, music education
• Professional magazines and journals
• New music issues
• Dissertations and theses
• Average-age piano methods, pre-school piano methods and supplementary materials
• Adult methods
• Classical repertoire series and anthologies of classical music
• Ear training series
• Classical teaching literature by composer
• Educational materials arranged by composer
• Standard solo piano literature
• Standard duet and two-piano repertoire
• Books for the well-equipped piano teacher
• Piano ensemble music for teaching
• Games and teaching aids
• Materials for group piano classes
• Celia Mae Bryant archives
• Juanita Hubbard archives
• DVDs and audio CDs
• Recordings of teaching literature
• Supplementary teaching materials
• Technique books
• Course Offerings in Piano Pedagogy

MuEd 3783 Piano Pedagogy. Basic study of concepts necessary for successful private and class piano teaching at the elementary level. Student teaching required.

MuEd 3793 Piano Pedagogy. Basic study of concepts necessary for successful private and class piano teaching at the intermediate level. Student teaching required. Continuation of skills begun inMuEd 3783.

MuEd 3782 Internship in Piano Teaching. Teaching of children from pre-school through high school in groups and private lessons under faculty supervision.

MuEd 3792 Internship in Piano Teaching. Teaching of children from pre-school through high school in groups and private lessons under faculty supervision. Continuation of skills begun in MuEd 3782.

MuEd 5612 Piano Pedagogy I. Methods, materials, curriculum building, and philosophical bases for teaching piano at the college and university levels with focus on group instruction. Student teaching required.

MuEd 5622 Piano Pedagogy II. Methods, materials, curriculum building, and philosophical bases for teaching piano at the elementary and intermediate levels. Student teaching required.

MuEd 5970 Readings and Writings for Piano Pedagogy. Reading in and related to piano pedagogy. Students investigate writings on such topics as the piano and its literature, current thought in piano technique, psychology and how students learn, creativity, practical skills and resources for teaching, learning disabilities, motivation, and others.

MuEd 5672 Ensemble Music in Piano Teaching. A survey of the musical literature for piano duet, two pianos and multiple pianos and its use in piano teaching at all levels.

MuEd 5970 Applied Research in Piano Pedagogy. Directed research on individual student projects in a classroom setting.

MuEd 5662 Teaching Intermediate and Advanced Piano Students. Methods, materials, and curriculum building for teaching piano students at the intermediate through advanced levels. Focus is on developing piano teaching techniques for high school and college-age students, studying repertoire that is appropriate for these students, and exploring performance practice suitable for pianists at the intermediate and advanced levels.

MuEd 5642 Internship in Piano Teaching. Teaching of children’s classes, college classes, adult students, or private lessons under faculty supervision. Designed to give the student experience in areas where none exists.

MuEd 5960 Directed Readings. Independent reading and study of topics relating to piano teaching under faculty supervision. Students design a reading project with input from faculty.

MuEd 5990 Special Studies. Independent projects relating to piano teaching under faculty supervision. Students design a project with input from faculty.

MuEd 6652 Doctoral Workshop in Piano Pedagogy. A public workshop for piano teachers concentrating on teaching techniques and materials. The workshop must be at least five hours in length. Terminal degree requirement for the DMA program.

One of the most historic OU arts facilities, it houses the offices and faculty, dance and performance studios of the A. Max Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre.This building is located on the north end of campus at the corner of Boyd Street and Asp Avenue. It is also one of the most beautiful structures on campus. It is known for its high ceilings, beautiful woodwork and striking architecture.

The Music Technology Area teaches in two cutting edge facilities: the Computer Music Studio and the MIDI lab, both located in Catlett Music Center.

The MIDI lab with its 20 workstations offers a convenient teaching and studying environment for students who enroll in introductory Music Technology courses.

In the Computer Music Studio, students work with the latest in recording hardware and software which offers students a real-world, hands-on experience in electoacoustic music composition, research, and music recording/production. Computer Studio

The Computer Music Suite is located on the second floor of the Catlett Music Center (room 202) and is available to students enrolled in advanced Music Technology courses. Students in these classes have unlimited access to the studio through a swipe card authorization system. The studio consists of a suit of rooms with a control room (Computer Music Studio), two isolation rooms and an amplifier/patch room that allows connections to all major performing spaces in the building. The following is a non-comprehensive list of equipment used in the control room.

Hardware

• Mac G5 Quad MaxMSPJitter
• Pro Tools HD 192 Pro Tools HD
• Mackie Onyx 2480 mixing board Peak Pro
• Mackie HUI digital control board Audiosculpt
• 8 Mackie HR 824 powered speakers Waves Gold
• 1 Mackie HRS 120 subwoofer GRM Tools (Classic and ST)
• Kurzweil K2500X Sampler Final Cut
• Yamaha EX5 Synthesizer Tons of plug-ins (Oxford, DNR, Pluggo, etc)
• trapKAT MIDI controller
• Sizable collection of mics (Neuman, AKG, Rode, Shure, Beyerdynamic, Audiotechnica, etc)
• Collection of iCubeX motion sensors
• HHB CDR800 Direct-to-CD recorder
• Tascam DA 30mkII DAT recorder
• Tascam DA98 8-track digital recorder
• Oppo DVD player

Software

• MaxMSPJitter
• Pro Tools HD
• Peak Pro
• Audiosculpt
• Waves Gold
• GRM Tools (Classic and ST)
• Final Cut
• Tons of plug-ins (Oxford, DNR, Pluggo, etc)

In addition to serving as a teaching and production facility for Music Technology and Music Composition students, the studio has produced several CDs including In Concert! featuring the OU School of Music student ensembles, such as the OU Symphony Orchestra, the Wind Symphony Orchestra, the New Century Ensemble, and the Jazz Ensemble, all recorded, edited and mastered by students enrolled in Recording Techniques. Previous recording projects include Ned Rorem's Song Cycle Ariel with Armand Ambrosini, clarinet; Edward Gates, piano; and Jennie Olson, soprano, available from Kendall/Hunt; Bavarian Horn with Eldon Matlick, horn; Howard Lubin, piano; and Salvatore Champagne, tenor, available on the Mark Masters Series of Mark Custom Recording; as well as on nine companion CDs for the Hal Leonard Corporation.

MIDI Lab

Our MIDI Lab, located on the ground floor of the Catlett Music Center (room 006A), consists of 20 iMac-based student workstations. Although the lab is used for classes on weekday mornings and early afternoons, it is open for student use late afternoons and evenings for four to five hours on average. All first-year introductory Music Technology courses take place in the MIDI lab. More specifically, each workstation has the following features:

Hardware

• iMac (20", Intel Core 2 Duo)
• Kurzweil K2vx Synthesizer
• Kawai MX8BR line mixer

Software

• Pro Tools LE
• MaxMSPJitter
• Finale
• MS Office

The Reynolds Performing Arts Center includes 50 upgraded music practice rooms, which are filled with students from morning till far into the night. Each room is heavily insulated to reduce noise intrusion and includes either an upright or grand piano.

The Grant Fine Arts Library serves as the "neighborhood library" for the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts of the University of Oklahoma, supporting their mission to provide “excellence in arts education, scholarship, and creative activities, and the nurture of its students by maintaining a university environment in which the highest professional standards are exemplified through its faculty.” The University remains committed to the arts, President Boren affirming “that no University can be truly great without achieving greatness in the fine arts. We must not…focus solely on the mind and the body, and neglect the spirit. Music and all of the Arts feed the soul. The creative part of us helps us escape the narrow boundaries of our own limited personal experiences.” The library also recognizes its obligation to the local community, the state, other libraries, and scholars in general.

Created by the merger of three smaller departmental libraries in 1986, the Fine Arts Library is located in room 020 on the lower level of Catlett Music Center on the corner of Elm and Boyd streets. The Fine Arts Library holds approximately 140,000 books, scores, and bound periodicals. Sound and video recordings are collected by the Media Resource Center, a separate entity, located within the Fine Arts Library, and administered by the College of Fine Arts.

The collection has been carefully built to support the needs of the College, which offers bachelors and masters degrees from each School as well as doctorates in music performance or conducting. The Ph.D. is offered in Music Education and in Art of the American West/Native American Art. The Helen Carpenter endowment fund supports the acquisition of important scholarly works such as catalogue raisonnés and the collected works of composers from the Middle Ages to the present. Electronic resources available include: Art Index, Art Index Retrospective, Bibliography of the History of Art, ARTstor, JSTOR, International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance, RILM, RIPM, Dance in Video, Opera in Video, and numerous reference works from Oxford University Press. Special collections include 8,000 pieces of sheet music from the 1890s to the 1960s and a collection of harp music donated by Lawrence Odom, formerly principal harpist at the Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington, D.C.

The Fine Arts Library circulates over 33,000 items each year and strives to constantly reach a greater number of students, staff, and faculty. Outreach activities include numerous tours and instruction sessions for a wide variety of courses, both within the College of Fine Arts and across the university, a newsletter, and an active presence on Facebook. A Librarian on Location program at the School of Art & Art History continue to expand our services beyond the walls of the library as we continue to evolve to meet the ever changing needs of the college, the university, and the community.