By GERRY SHIH Special to the Daily Press
MID-CITY A veritable island of performing arts is quickly forming here amid the swath of businesses and residential homes.
Before the fresh academic year enters its third week, Santa Monica College has nearly finished relocating its music department — computers, pianos, and all — to its Madison Music and Performing Arts Campus on 11th Street. The refurbished building, formerly a school under the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, will be officially presented to the community at a four-hour open house this Sunday, featuring live music performed by teachers beginning at 1 p.m.
The move is the latest development in the music and drama departments’ gradual annexation of the block of Santa Monica Boulevard between 10th and 11th streets. The music building is currently overshadowed by the imposing skeleton of the Madison Theater, an award-winning 541-seat performance hall slated to become the centerpiece of the Madison campus upon its completion this winter.
SMC officials said that the music facility was officially opened for use on Aug. 27, the first day of classes.
“We were bursting at the seams on our old campus,” said Marge Windish, the music department secretary. “This gives us a chance to grow and develop.”
According to music Chairman James Smith, the department will take advantage of its new equipment and physical space, eventually introducing new course offerings in the future.
No less than 27 air-conditioned practice rooms were opened for students, a figure that nearly doubled the 14 rooms previously available at SMC’s main campus. Furthermore, the department’s two resident voice accompanists now enjoy private practice spaces with pianos, eliminating another headache, Smith said.
The SMC music program currently employs five full-time professors and up to 52 part-time instructors, covering both performance and musical theory disciplines. Roughly 75 percent of graduates transfer to a four-year music program, with destinations ranging from Cal State Northridge to the Juilliard School of Music.
The newly renovated facility’s other features include a media lab, library, and a “black box” rehearsal hall located at the back of the Madison Theater and connected to the music building.
The funding for the renovation of an existing auditorium, rehearsal hall, and the classroom building came from a $5 million college bond approved by Santa Monica-Malibu voters in 2002, according to SMC marketing spokesman Don Girard. The construction of the theater is being funded by bonds approved by Measure S in 2004, and is expected to ultimately cost $38 million.
Departments other than music, such as mathematics, will take advantage of the ten classrooms — including “smart” rooms with multimedia setups — for coveted instruction space away from the crowded main campus. A mini-bus runs regularly between the Madison and main campuses, and SMC officials expressed optimism about students’ ability to cope with the back and forth shuttling.
“It’s a problem that students don’t want to come,” Smith said. “There are no food courts, bookstores, or amenities. But given time, it’ll be a good, popular campus.”
Bruce Smith, SMC spokesman, added that the college has been running satellite campuses since 1988 due to the space constraints in Santa Monica.
“The issues do come up, but our students have always adjusted well,” he said.
So far, feedback from students has generally been positive, although many were still tentatively exploring the new facility, obtaining practice room keys and locating rest-rooms. Martin Sosinski, a jazz piano student, called the new facility “fresh” while Cesar Ventura, an applied music major, said that his only remaining gripe was that the classrooms still don’t have air conditioning, a significant source of discomfort given this week’s heat wave.
Given the vast parking lot surrounding the complex, it seems unlikely that neighbors will be affected by music from the campus, but facility administrators said they are prepared to address the issue if complaints are raised.
By yesterday morning, a piano and cello duet was already drifting out of a practice room to serenade the few students relaxing on the lawn, while the stubborn sound of power tools persisted from the adjacent theater construction site.
The performance hall, set for completion this winter, has already won the Los Angeles Business Council’s Outstanding Architecture in the Unbuilt Category award. Enthusiastic SMC representatives have already compared the layout of the Madison campus to a certain pantheon of performing arts in New York City.
“We’re excited about having the music program right next to this performing arts center,” said Smith. “It’ll be like our own Juilliard right next to the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 5, 2007. Read the original PDF.