MOORHEAD – Snow on the roof of the band room in Hvidsten led to the room’s closure and remodel. This has caused many on-campus ensembles to change rehearsal spaces while the room is worked on.
During finals week of December 2023, according to Nat Dickey, chair of the music department, facilities became aware that a snow load on the older roof of the band room, Hvidsten 137, had raised safety concerns. The room was immediately closed and repairs were started.
The room is scheduled for reopening in January of 2025, with renovation work to be completed this November.
“The renovation work is now expected to be completed by the end of November, 2024. We plan to use the month of December and early January to move equipment back in and set the room up for use,” Dickey said.
Dickey said the room will be receiving upgrades during this transition.
“The whole room is being completely renovated with new acoustical wall treatments, new flooring, and new ceiling lighting, etc. Additionally, the storage and recording spaces in the west end of the room are being completely redesigned,” he said.
The music department will redesign storage spaces to improve storage solutions for instruments, and a recording studio will be placed on the same level as the rest of the room, Dickey says.
“This will allow for more state-of-the-art recording and creative projects to be done in the space,” Dickey elaborated.
According to Dickey, various ensembles on campus have moved rehearsal spaces due to the shutdown. The bands and orchestras have shared the orchestra room (Hvidsten 148), while the jazz bands have utilized the Music Resource Center (Hvidsten 134).
Choral ensembles have also moved around. Kantorei and Chapel Choir have both moved rehearsals from North Choral (Hvidsten 187) to the Christiansen Recital Hall to allow for North Choral to be used as a swing rehearsal space for other ensembles. The Percussion Ensemble and Marima Choir have utilized both North Choral and the orchestra room. The Concordia Choir has stayed put in South Choral (Hvidsten 149).
Mackenzie Goodwin is a second-year environmental and sustainability studies student. They are involved in both the Symphonic Band and Chapel Choir. Goodwin received an email notifying her that Symphonic Band would be rehearsing in the orchestra room while she was away during winter break last year.
“We just got an email that we would no longer be in the band room, and we’d be moving to the orchestra room, and they didn’t know how long the repairs would take, but basically they told us that the ceiling was collapsing,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin says switching rooms for Symphonic Band has been only a minor inconvenience.
“It’s less convenient because my oboe is not on [that] side of the building. I keep my oboe in the oboe studio, so I have to cross. It’s really minor of an inconvenience. It doesn’t really matter,” she said.
Orchestra students, however, store some of their instruments in the orchestra room, said Goodwin, which can interrupt band rehearsal.
“Sometimes orchestra students need to come in and out while we’re practicing to get their instruments, which is kind of a distraction…There’s bass lockers in there, so sometimes bass players need to go in there,” they said.
Jillian Jaros is a sophomore and the student manager of Chapel Choir. She was a member of Kantorei last year when the ensemble migrated to the recital hall.
“I think it took a while for us to get used to the new space, and how we sounded in a new space, and also it felt like we were, like, farther apart. Like, the basses were so much farther back than they were previously in North Choral,” she said.
Goodwin joined Chapel Choir last semester after the ensemble moved into the recital hall, so she has never sung in North Choral.
“Choir used to be in North Choral, but now it’s in the recital hall, and that is only where I have ever sang…I don’t get why everybody is so happy about [North] Choral, because isn’t the recital hall better for acoustics?…I’m really indifferent,” Goodwin said.
Jaros, however, stated that the move was not universally liked.
“I don’t think a lot of people really liked being in the recital hall just because it was, like, a lot to get used to at such an odd time and learning music,” she said.
The room itself also proved to be an obstacle, according to Jaros.
“It’s, at a slant, so you have to…watch for water bottles rolling all over the floor,” Jaros said.
Goodwin admitted that there were some benefits to Chapel Choir moving back to North Choral.
“I’m willing to try, and maybe have more foot room.” she said.
Jaros is happily anticipating Chapel Choir’s move back into North Choral.
“I’m excited to move back into North Choral… I feel it’s more personal in there,” she said.
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