Tufts, I know, does not have a music school, so we don't actually get our own music building. As a result, the Aidekman Arts Center is home to a variety of programs: lectures, drama, some dance, and lastly (sadly) music. Believe me, I know. I have all my music minor classes there. Those of us who are genuinely serious about music are starving for a place where we can truly feel comfortable. A home.
I realize I have no control over the actual budget and timeline for this project. If we don't raise millions of dollars, we simply can't have a multi-million-dollar building. And I don't have millions of dollars to give, so what can I do?
Well, for now the best I can do is give the reasons for which the project is so important. Hopefully these points will better inform those of you who are wondering why we should spend millions of dollars on a music building in the first place. For the most part, the reasons aren't new. But just in case the University is letting the issue slip out of sight, I want to bring the subject to the forefront again.
There are three basic problems I have with the current "music" building. First of all, we do not have an auditorium with proper acoustics for large concerts. Secondly, we lack proper soundproofing. Thirdly, we do not have a recital hall. These downfalls are all detrimental to the music department and to the University as a whole.
Cohen Auditorium (or should I say Cohen Lecture Hall?) is not fit for musical performances. The stage eats sound. When an orchestra or chorus performs there, audience members seated in the middle of the auditorium can't believe their ears. Though the musicians are usually playing and singing with unimaginable passion, their faces radiating joy, the performers are always completely betrayed by the muffled and lifeless sound that reaches the crowd. Really sad.
Furthermore, soundproofing is key in any musical environment. Musicians have to craft pure beauty out of sheer invisibility through the production of sound. This is extremely difficult, meaning that a musician needs complete isolation from outside distractions in order to truly make music. These distractions include other instruments playing, human voices singing, and nearby conversations. You can see where I'm going with this, especially if you have ever tried to use a practice room in Aidekman Arts Center. Sometimes it feels like all you can hear are distractions, which is unbearable for any self-respecting musician. This also goes for the classrooms in Aidekman, where soundproofing is lacking as well. Believe it or not, I'm also speaking of the so-called "sound modules," which are supposed to be soundproof, but somehow fail when you stick a saxophone player in there.
The current "recital hall" is Alumnae Lounge, where the blinds have all fallen off the windows. It is fine for recitals in some sense. Although there are no permanent seats for an audience and the door wildly slams shut, the sound in there is still pretty good. Still, the setup of the room essentially makes it a lounge for important social functions, rather than a venue for musical recitals. A highly competitive institution like Tufts needs a much more respectable facility.
All in all, these problems combine to make for a very persuasive argument as to why we need a new and true music building. However, I haven't yet mentioned the bearing on the university as a whole. Tufts is becoming more and more selective, to the point of even flat-out rejecting some early admissions applicants. Clearly we are highly competitive on an international level, so we should be highly competitive in every way. We can no longer stand for an archaic music space. In addition, we have an excellent Music Department faculty, yet we provide them with this remarkably substandard environment in which to teach. We must fix the glaring problems with the current arrangement and build a new home for professors and students alike to fulfill their enormous potential.
Regrettably, whatever changes do happen probably won't occur while I'm still here. Yet I don't mind that too much. If I come back to visit Tufts in ten years and there's a phenomenal new music building, that would still be wonderful. I look forward to it.
Kenny William is a junior majoring in mechanical engineering.
