The University of Memphis raised $10 million in private donations and has invested $35 million into building the new Scheidt Family Music Center expected to open in 2021.
According to Wesley Larue, the director of development at the UofM, the new music center will expand the educational opportunities for faculties and students alike.
“The Scheidt Family Music Center is going to allow us to have a performance and practice space that we have not had before for our students and faculty. In short, this is going to allow us to grow those programs through extended space,” Larue said.
Kevin Sanders, director for the School of Music, said the music center would be more than just a space for students in the program but more of a centralized music hub for the city of Memphis.
“The new Music Center will be an incredible space to not only house the talents of our School of Music students and faculty but to serve a central hub for all things music in the city of Memphis,” Sanders said. “We will have the technological ability to connect with artists around the globe and expand the access and opportunities we can provide for students on campus.”
Sanders also said that he hopes that all students are able to witness the fantastic performances displayed by The School of Music.
“The Scheidt Family Music Center will be open to all University of Memphis students,” Sanders said. “It is my hope that every student is able to witness the fantastic performances displayed by the School of Music students and facility in addition to the world-class, professional ensembles from Memphis and across the globe that will be performing a visitor onstage.”
Students seemed to be praising the University of Memphis for this new development.
Malcolm Jackson, a senior at the University of Memphis, said that he believes that this building will merge the gap between the music industry students and musical performances students who rarely participated together on projects.
“I think it’s a pretty good idea, and it would be beneficial to the University of Memphis,” Jackson said. “It should allow a lot of students to interact with each other a bit more.”
Jeremiah Carter, a junior at the University of Memphis, said that the new center is very much needed.
“It’s important to musicians and artists to be exposed. This building will supply artists of all kinds with the resource needed to gain that exposure,” Carter said.
Sanders also talked about the innovations that are being added to assist students and faculty alike.
“In addition to an acoustically state-of-the-art concert hall, the Schedit Family Music Center will feature fully-equipped spaces for professional recording and editing, additional classrooms, and several large rehearsal spaces for our ensemble,” Sanders said.
