GENERAL INFORMATION

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The School of Music is housed in three buildings:
Catlett Music Center, Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center, and Carpenter Hall.

• Catlett Music Center is home to the School of Music. Completed in 1998, the facility houses three concert halls, the Fine Arts Library and Media Resource Center as well as studios, classrooms and electronic labs.
  

• Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center, with the assistance of a $12.2 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, reopened in 2005. Renovations include the 750-seat auditorium.
  

• Carpenter Hall, one of the most historic OU arts facilities, houses offices and studios for piano, piano pedagogy and voice.
  

CATLETT MUSIC CENTER



The Catlett Music Center

The 25 million dollar Stanley B. Catlett, Sr. Music Center, completed in 1998, contains the School of Music administrative offices, faculty offices and studios, rehearsal suites, classrooms, MIDI labs, the Grant Fine Arts Library, a recording studio, and three performance halls, including the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall, Morris R. Pitman Recital Hall, and Grayce B. Kerr Gothic Hall (for organ performance). The Donald W. Reynolds Performing Arts Center houses faculty offices and the Auditorium, a theatrical stage used by the OU Opera Theater for its productions. Studios for the voice and piano faculty members are currently located in Carpenter Hall.

More than 100 grand and upright pianos, along with several pipe organs, are used for teaching and practice and are maintained by certified technicians. Included in the inventory of practice pipe organs are three Moellers, a Reuter and two Holtkamps. The School of Music also provides a large number of string, wind and percussion instruments for students studying secondary instruments. In addition, the school owns a growing collection of historical instruments for the performance of early music. Two music technology labs house state-of-the-art MIDI equipment which is maintained with the latest releases of software, computers, synthesizers, and peripheral equipment.

The School of Music is a fully accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music. The requirements for admission and graduation are in accordance with the published regulations of the N.A.S.M.

SPECIAL FACILITIES AND PROGRAMS

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. Also located in Kerr Gothic Hall, which also serves as a grand entrance to the School of Music and a lobby for the two other performance spaces in the Catlett Music Center, are the FACTS Box Office and a concession area. 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 smaller Morris R. Pitman Recital Hall reflects many of the same architectural details of the Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall and creates an intimate environment for 125 patrons to enjoy faculty and student chamber music recitals and lectures. The Kerr Gothic Hall also serves as a performance space for organ and choral concerts.

The Catlett Music Center provides expansive rehearsal suites for large performing ensembles. Rehearsal suites for orchestra, band, and choral areas are acoustically designed for the enhancement of the teaching and learning process. Each suite contains equipment for the recording and playback of rehearsals to aid in the learning process as well as large libraries of repertoire which are continuously updated. The percussion suite is an extensive complex of large rehearsal rooms, offices, and five practice rooms dedicated for percussion studies. The University of Oklahoma Percussion Press, which publishes literature for all levels of percussion study from solos to large percussion ensembles, is also located in the percussion suite. Two electronic piano labs facilitate the teaching of piano skills to beginning pianists. In conjunction with these labs, the piano pedagogy program maintains the Ruby Grant Piano Pedagogy Resource Center, a repository for information and literature invaluable to students and educators alike.

Technology is a priority in the School of Music. Each classroom contains projection, audio/visual equipment and computer capabilities for demonstrations in lectures and presentations. In addition, pianos are provided in most classrooms. A state-of-the-art recording studio/electronic music laboratory features the latest computer and sound equipment, software, and recording devices for composition and individual recording sessions. All concerts and recitals at the School of Music are also recorded on state-of-the-art digital recording equipment for production of compact discs. Computer labs in the school contain equipment including iMac G5s, Kurzweil K2000 synthesizers, Kawai synthesizer modules, mixers, and the latest editions of music software, including Finale 2006, Digital Performer and music theory software. These labs are used in the instruction of music theory, composition, MIDI technology, and orchestration. Students are able to use the MIDI labs outside of class time for individual and class projects. Individual faculty studios and offices are also equipped with computers, synthesizers, and stereo equipment to aid in teaching and research. In addition, the school houses two piano labs containing new Yahama keyboards and interactive teaching technologies.


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DONALD W. REYNOLDS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

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.

For additional information, please visit:
http://www.ou.edu/finearts/reynoldscenter/history/index.html


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