Follett Hall To Debut Later This Month

The School’s soon-to-be-opened building for music, dance and interdisciplinary performing arts is nearly complete — and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts Jen Carnevale cannot contain her enthusiasm.

“It is so exciting," Carnevale said. “It's going to be really inspiring to teach and learn in those beautiful spaces that were created with so much intention. When I walk through the building, it elevates how I even think about my teaching, my students, how and what my students can learn, and what they're capable of doing.”

The building, formerly called Strayer Hall, will house new spaces including a music lab for creating, mixing, composing and producing music, with a full complement of professional-grade music software (including ProTools, Sibelius, Auralia and Ableton Live); two large ensemble spaces; seven medium ensemble and rock rooms; five small ensemble and practice rooms; a dance studio and an outdoor performance patio on the quad.

Carnevale is most excited about what Follett Hall will mean to Masters students. “To be able to stick your head out of your practice room and look up and down the hallway and see who else is practicing and then go jam with them, just the very casual, organic collaboration that happens when you have a shared facility is great — and what we’ve been missing,” she said.

Students will also welcome back some new and finely tuned instruments. “Half of our piano collection has been rebuilt and refurbished so they're going to be sitting down at instruments that have new life and new energy,” Carnevale shared. 

Seth Marx, associate head of school for institutional advancement, is equally pleased. “Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Our Might campaign donors, we will soon open our newly renovated music building and dance studio — remarkable investments that ensure every student continues to learn, create and thrive in an arts-rich environment,” he said. “At Masters, we believe the arts are not an extra, but essential, and we can’t wait for our community to experience all that these renewed spaces will make possible.”

The school community is invited to the ceremonial ribbon cutting of Follett Hall on Saturday, September 27, at 1:30 p.m. Following the ceremony, the Department of Performing Arts will host an open house with self-guided tours of the new space and student performances throughout the building.