Overview
Sperry S. And Ella Graber Packard Hall of Music and Art
Packard was designed to inspire and nurture the complementary aspirations of music and art. Constructed in 1976 and renovated in 2005, the building is home to both the music department and art department at Colorado College. Packard's music side features five state-of-the-art "smart" classrooms equipped with the finest audio-visual technology, five private lesson studios including a group piano class lab, a composition computer lab equipped with mac computers, and the latest versions of Finale, The Albert Seay Library of Music, and eight soundproofed private practice rooms. On top of this, every room in the department is equipped with a piano. Our performance hall, Packard Performance Hall, is one of the finest acoustic halls in Colorado.
Packard Performance Hall
Packard Hall is one of the finest acoustic performance halls in the state of Colorado. Equipped with a 9' Steinway Hamburg piano and a 9' Steinway New York piano, a state-of-the art sound system, and a vaulted stage floor, the hall brings everything to the fore when it comes to music performance. Iconic musicians such as pianist Bill Wolfram, artist in residence Susan Grace, violinist and conductor Scott Yoo, clarinetist Bil Jackson, master of sitar Rajeev Taranath, master of mbira Cosmas Magaya, and many more make frequent performances here because, frankly, Packard Hall Rocks!
Recording Studios
Packard houses three state-of-the-art recording facilities: the Recording Studio, the Electronic Music Studio, and the Sound Booth in Packard Performance Hall. Our studios are equipped with the latest Apple iMacs and use professional recording software Avid Pro Tools, electronic music favorite Ableton Live, digital media playground Max/MSP/Jitter, and a variety of plug-ins and tools for processing, composing, and mixing. The recording spaces utilize Grace Design preamps and boast numerous top-tier microphones from manufacturers like Neumann, Schoeps, and Royer. All three studios are connected using cutting-edge Dante audio networking technology, which allows them to share audio data at very low latency. The studios serve as a continuous resource for music technology classes, music majors and minors, and students from across the college.
Seay Library of Music and Art
Albert Seay Library of Music and Art, located on the ground level of Sperry S. And Ella Graber Packard Hall of Music and Art, houses one of the largest liberal arts college music research and performance collections in the Western United States, a collection of over 31,000 items which includes books, scores, audio recordings (CDs and LPs), video recordings (Blu-rays and DVDs), periodicals, reference materials, and CD and LP playback devices. Seay Library also provides and facilitates access to online resources pertaining to music, which consist of numerous databases and streaming audiovisual services. You may search the collection via Colorado College Libraries' online public access catalog (OPAC).
The facilities of Seay Library include a multi-purpose study room and a group listening and viewing room—equipped with a flat screen monitor with speakers; playback devices for CDs, LPs, phonograph records, compact cassettes, DVDs, and VHSs; and a Nord Grand digital stage piano—as well as the Department of Art's Art + Technology Lab. The multi-purpose study room can be reserved for meetings and reservation requests may be sent to music.library@coloradocollege.edu. Seay Library also provides access to two off-site collections of orchestral music, which are available for all El Paso County ensembles to request and borrow free of charge.
Classrooms
All of our classrooms are equipped with a full sound system and projector to provide high-quality audio-visual support to our academic classes. Additionally, each of our classrooms is equipped with a grand piano and soundproofing to prevent sound from bleeding between rooms.
Classrooms may be reserved for student use in the afternoons. Please see staff in the Music office or Seay Library for more information.
Practice Rooms
We have eight practice rooms available to students. Each practice room is unique; all have at least one upright piano, a music stand, and a practice chair. Students enrolled in lessons or ensembles may request practice room access upon lesson registration.
Lockers
Lockers are available to our students for instrument storage. Lockers are distributed on a first-come-first-served basis to students enrolled in music lessons or ensembles, so come early in the year to reserve your space. Inquire at the music department office to pick up your locker assignment. ($100 fee will be charged to your student account for a lost or non-returned key.)