Wheaton magazine

Volume 21 // Issue 3
Wheaton magazine // Autumn 2018
Home
Features
Feature
Tony Hughes

Enhancing Music and the Performing Arts

Introducing the new Armerding Center for Music and the Arts, bringing music and the arts to the center of campus life

Tony Hughes (photography) and Dawn Kotapish '92

Inside the Armerding Center for Music and the Arts’ front doors, a beehive of activity awaits.

Walking through the main lobby, you'll find students preparing for class and artwork from Wheaton's Joel Sheesley.
Tony Hughes
Enter the up-to-date 108-seat, beautifully appointed Recital Hall.
Tony Hughes
Inside the new Recital Hall, you'll notice state-of-the-art acoustic panels, curtains, and lighting.
Tony Hughes
“Lifting our voices in the new Armerding Recital Hall has been a highlight for the Gospel Choir this year! Preparing for concerts, developing vocal skills, and learning more about gospel music among state-of-the-art equipment has, in two words, been ‘very smooth.’”
— Tanya Egler, director of the Wheaton College Gospel Choir
Visit the Hospitality Suite specifically designed to welcome prospective students, their families, and special guests. This room boasts cozy chairs, a meeting space, and a kitchenette.
Tony Hughes
“I live in two worlds of music pedagogy—applied and academic—which requires various types of learning spaces and technologies. The new Armerding Center provides me with these resources (and more), elevating my teaching, creating, and music making. I am truly grateful to God.”
— Shawn E. Okpebholo, D.M.A., associate professor of music (composition, music theory)
Peek into one of the large classrooms that offer a digital keyboard lab, a music education space with rhythm instruments and the latest digital technology, and a creative classroom—like the one shown—facilitating movement, interaction, and song.
Tony Hughes
At any time, you may find a string quartet feverishly practicing in one of the chamber music rehearsal rooms.
Tony Hughes
Or students practicing in one of a large number of practice rooms, including specialized spaces offering a practice organ and harpsichords.
TONY HUGHES
Watch the sun shine through a window into a harpsichord inside a practice room.
Tony Hughes
These new practice rooms are adequately sized to protect musicians' hearing and to offer optimal acoustics.
TONY HUGHES
A piano catches a beam of sunlight through the window of a practice room.
TONY HUGHES
Carolyn Hart, D.M.A., professor of music (voice), instructing a student in a one-on-one voice coaching session in a faculty teaching studio.
TONY HUGHES
Walking through the halls of the new Armerding Center, you will find students preparing for class in student lounges.
Tony Hughes
Students prepare for class in one of the many study areas.
TONY HUGHES
Or, you will find them socializing in these shared spaces.
TONY HUGHES

Here, in a faculty teaching studio, Daniel Paul Horn, D.M.A., professor of music (piano), is instructing a student during a one-on-one piano session.
TONY HUGHES
Students take a break from juries to enjoy the view of the Quad.
TONY HUGHES
Through the window of the track-side recording studio, observe a vocal performance student perform for a class in a chamber rehearsal room.
Tony Hughes
Two recording studios with state-of-the-art acoustic panels, and connections directly to the chamber music rehearsal rooms, as well as the Recital and Concert Halls.
TONY HUGHES

The second phase of construction will involve the creation of a choral rehearsal room, a 648-seat concert hall, and a lobby connecting both halves of the building.

Learn more about the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music.

Contents