The faculty and staff of the Tufts music department are in the middle of a long transition into their new home: the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center.
"It's been organized chaos," Ryan Saunders, the publicist and events manager for the music department, said.
Michael Rogan, head of the newly constructed Ruth Lilly Music Library housed in the new building, agreed. "We're all learning how to run the building," he said.
Construction on the building was completed in December and the moving-in process began in January. The building officially opened to students on Jan. 18, the first day of classes this semester.
The building contains offices for the music faculty and staff, classrooms, performance halls, a box office, a music and computer center and a music library.
The two main recital halls, the Fisher Performance Room and the Distler Performance Hall, will both be equipped with recording capabilities.
The Distler Performance Hall can seat approximately 300 people and will be the site of many events previously held in Cohen Auditorium. The older space will still be used, however, especially for larger events.
The construction of the building marks the first time that the music department, its classes and the music library have ever been in a single location.
Music classes were previously held in Aidekman, while the music department offices were on Professors Row, and the music library was located underneath Cohen Auditorium. "We're all in the same place for the first time," Rogan said.
He said the new building has been particularly helpful for the music library. The new facility is a branch of the Tisch Library and is named after Ruth Lilly, the 91-year-old philanthropist who financed its construction.
The library is equipped with compact shelves that move electronically for greater storage capacity and houses approximately 60 to 70 thousand CDs, books, scores and other items, according to Rogan.
He also said that this new environment is more welcoming than its smaller and more cramped predecessor for students hoping to get work done.
"People generally avoided the music library in the old days and that was understandable," he said.
Although it has only been open since last Thursday, Rogan said that the space has already been discovered and utilized by students, both music majors as well as people living in nearby Sophia Gordon and South halls.
According to Saunders, much of the upcoming semester will be dedicated to transitioning into the new building and getting used to the new space.
Also, members of the music staff will have to get used to taking on added responsibilities, at least for the immediate future.
"Our jobs just totally changed the minute we walked in the door," he said.
Still, he said that it has been an upbeat process. "It's been a very positive transition," he said. "I think we're more than excited."
