When riding the Joey back from Davis Square, it's hard to miss the new music building.
With its sleek lines and gracefully large windows, the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center stands out from most other architecture on campus and compliments its new neighbor, Sophia Gordon Hall.
Upon entering the Granoff Center, visitors are greeted by high ceilings and modernistic furniture that evoke an ambience comparable to the lobby of a professional concert hall, not a collegiate music department.
At 55,000 square feet, the Granoff Center includes performance space, several classrooms, rehearsal halls, staff offices and the Lilly Music Library, an extension of Tisch Library with media geared toward students of music.
Senior Bryan Boyce, co-president of Tufts Symphony Orchestra and an employee at the Lilly Music Library, said that it's a "real library now," as opposed to the previous space, which was a "leaky, smelly room that was [for] music majors only."
The Granoff Center is a welcome change for the music department's professors and Tufts students. Prior to the building's completion, the department's offices were located in a small house on Professors Row, while classes, performances, and rehearsals were conducted in Aidekman Arts Center.
"Tufts hasn't built anything for the arts in almost 30 years," the Granoff Center's publicist and event manager Ryan Saunders said. "For a long time, a building like this has been in high demand."
The music program at Tufts has expanded rapidly in recent years. According to Saunders, an estimated one-third of the student body is involved with the music department during their time at Tufts.
The Tufts campus also hosts multiple performances, the number of which has increased dramatically since 2000.
Last year alone, Tufts entertained about 1,200 patrons.
The Granoff Center emphasizes Tufts' growing interest in music and embodies the active arts scene on campus.
Boyce said, however, that even the new practice areas of the building are "probably not enough" to keep up with the growing demand.
With the increased attention to on-campus music that the building brings, Boyce said, "A lot of people are making new, interesting music," leading to more students using the facilities.
While the new practice rooms are a definite improvement, they are already thinly spread across the Tufts music scene.
Even with the limitations, music students are grateful for the Granoff Center's technically state-of-the-art facilities.
Most of the rooms in the Granoff Center are "smart rooms," which are fully automated rooms that offer instant live-recording technology.
In addition, the Granoff Center houses the Distler Performance Hall, featuring exquisite acoustic architecture.
The hall is designed to prevent outside noise from interfering with performances while simultaneously keeping noise from leaving the room.
This means that classes can be conducted without interruption, even during a loud recital.
Boyce won't perform in Distler until this weekend's Opening Festival, but he has heard enthusiastic advance praise for the new hall.
"I've heard that even applause and cell phone rings sound great," he said.
The new technology in the music center is a welcome change from the music department's old facilitates, but it has proven difficult to adjust to the new surroundings.
"We have all of this great new equipment, but we don't know how to use it yet," Saunders said.
Boyce also has experienced the growing pains associated with the move to the new building.
Obtaining key card access to the Granoff Center is proving to be a headache for many, but sorting out the problem, Boyce said, is "something everyone has to get around to doing."
Because it is taking time for the department to adjust to the building and develop appropriate policies and procedures for its use, the Granoff Center will only host events associated with the music department this semester.
"It's not because we don't want people to make use of this new space; it's just that we aren't prepared," Saunders said. "Next semester there will be more chances for other students to use this space."
There will, however, be an Opening Festival to celebrate the opening of the space.
This Thursday all six of the Tufts a cappella groups will be performing in Distler Performance Hall. The next day, students will have an opportunity to field questions to Brian Stokes Mitchell, an award-winning Broadway performer who starred in productions like "Man of La Mancha" and "Kiss Me Kate."
On Saturday the Center is hosting an open house, a variety of youth workshops, lunch hour jazz, a gala reception and a Festival Concert.
On Sunday the Center will offer a pre-concert lecture and a Community Chamber Concert.
This weekend's festivities are only the beginning of the Granoff Center's service to the arts community. As Saunders said, "this is just the first movement."
