Architectural firms announced for new music facilities
calendar icon18 Feb 2022
Lincoln, Neb.--The architecture firms who will design the new music building and renovate Kimball Hall have been selected.
The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts has received funding to begin design and construction of a new $75 million music facility and $15 million renovation of Kimball Recital Hall. Those funds were approved by the Nebraska Legislature last year.
While these will be two, separate projects with two separate teams, the planning and construction for both projects will happen concurrently.
The chosen firms are:
New Music Building :
National Architecture firm: BNIM
Local Architecture firm: Sinclair Hille
Acoustic firm: Kirkegaard
Kimball Recital Hall renovation:
National firm: Quinn Evans
Local firm: Davis Design
Acoustic firm: Jaffe Holden
“We were fortunate to have a number of national and international firms apply for the projects,” said Sergio Ruiz, director of the Glenn Korff School of Music. “I look forward to joining faculty, staff, students and community partners to work with these selected firms throughout the planning and construction process. This is an exciting time for the Glenn Korff School of Music, as we take this important step closer to a much-needed new facility.”
The new music facility will replace Westbrook Music Building, which was built in the mid-1960s.
Anticipated new spaces in the new facility will include:
• an elegant 300-seat recital hall
• rehearsal halls of various sizes to house the Cornhusker Marching Band and the opera program, as well as UNL’s percussion, jazz, orchestral, choir and chamber music ensembles
• a state-of-the-art digital recording facility
• instructional space, offices and practice rooms for faculty, staff and students
Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023, with the new facility opening in fall 2025.
The University of Nebraska Foundation, the Hixson-Lied College, and the Glenn Korff School of Music are seeking $15 million for additional facility expenses and to provide naming opportunities for music spaces to support music scholarships, professorships, student opportunities and special equipment.
“As someone who started on the music faculty and taught in Westbrook, I’m personally thrilled to see this project moving forward, and to see the excitement growing on campus, in the community and among our alumni,” said Christopher Marks, interim dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts. “Our faculty and students will have a facility that better matches the high quality of the work they do every day. I can’t wait to visit with alumni and other interested donors about the exciting plans we are developing and share with them ways they can provide their support.”