This is a photograph of the Frances Bedford Concert Hall, one of the most exquisite showpieces of the newly opened Rita Tallent Pick Regional Center for Arts & Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. I’m calling it the Green Room not because the color green figures in its decorating scheme (as you can see for yourself) but rather as a reference to the Envious shade of Green my face turns each time I step into this beautiful performance space. In fact, the very first time I saw it – on a tour with Parkside’s Dean Yohnk last week – I found it to be a literally breathtaking sight; I could scarcely make a sound, let along utter a word.
Actually, the entire facility – referred to in affectionate shorthand as “The Rita” – is quite impressive, both in its sheer size and scope and beauty, but also in the attention to detail that distinguishes it from its more run-of-the-mill counterparts. There are all kinds of neat little touches that give the place its own refreshing charm. . . like all of the natural light which can be enjoyed in the hallways, most of the offices, and even in most of the performance spaces, including the so-called Black Box theater. . . as well as the big interior windows which allow people to look in on spaces like the costume shop and rehearsal rooms, giving the public a glimpse at the creative process which makes live theatrical productions possible. There is also the matter of the lecture halls and other facilities being richly appointed with the latest technological advances – and the structure has been conceived and built with strict adherence to the strictest standards involving environmental impact and energy efficiency. So on all kinds of levels, this is an amazing and impressive achievement for Parkside and in particular for its theater, art and music departments – who now have facilities that will enable them to do what they do at an even higher level of excellence.
It’s also been a very very long time coming. On the morning show earlier this week, Dean Yohnk (former chair of the theater department, but now serving as interim dean for the college of arts & humanities) said that almost from the moment Parkside was first built, they knew that the whole fine arts wing of the campus was woefully inadequate, and consequently there’s been a push for expansion almost from day one. There are a plethora of hoops to jump through to make something like this happen, and I know that there have been plenty of times in the past when it appeared like a new fine arts facility was right around the corner. I can recall about fifteen years ago when I had lunch with Mark Eichner, then chair of the music department, because he wanted to bounce some ideas off of me about the new arts facility that would “soon” be built. Again, that lunch took place at least fifteen years ago! But the cold, hard reality is that you can’t ever count on such things really happening until that first spade of dirt gets shoveled. So it’s been a maddening and I’m sure even painful waiting game – especially for the veterans on the faculty who have had to make do with cramped and limited facilities for way too long. But no longer!
The fact that Parkside has waited so long for this day is one way I can fight back the intense envy which I feel as a teacher at Carthage College, where the music department especially is feeling the increasingly painful pinch of too little space for too many students. The reality is that our music department has grown by leaps and bounds over the last twenty years, and it’s harder and harder for us to find rooms for all our lessons to be taught in or for our students to practice in. I swear that one of these days, we’ll have voice lessons being taught in a broom closet and choir rehearsal in the boiler room. As problems go, it’s a lovely one to have, I suppose – but it’s a problem all the same, and it’s growing more acute by the day. Fortunately, there does seem to be very serious interest in our situation being addressed in a meaningful way, and it appears that it may even happen in my lifetime! 🙂
For now, I’m concentrating my energies on being happy for the good folk at UW-Parkside…. and especially the fine arts faculty who I have come to know, respect, and like over the years. I am also mindful of the fact that my alma mater, Luther College, did not have a single music building when I was going there. We were farmed out in at least six different buildings, none of which were designed with our department in mind – and the most amazing thing was that Nordic Choir typically rehearsed in K5 – which was a room in the upper level of the college’s heating plant. A less glamorous or classy-looking building you could not have found if you tried! But I think we took enormous pride as a department in achieving great things without the benefit of a beautiful music building all our own. We did great things on the strength of incredibly talented students and brilliantly gifted and committed faculty, and very much in spite of our facilities. Which is not to say that I didn’t feel tremendous envy upon realizing that Luther’s new Jensen Hall of Music would open the fall after I graduated. I was one of the participants in the ceremony in which the cornerstone was laid, and I remember doing my best to enjoy the occasion on behalf of those who would come after me. Likewise, this Saturday I will be the emcee for the dedication ceremony of Parkside’s new facility- and will once again be rejoicing in the good fortune of others….. in this case, the good fortune of our colleagues at the college down the road from us. One of those colleagues said quite frankly that he sees this new facility as “a game changer,” and I think he’s right… and in whatever time it takes for Carthage to construct its own fine arts center, we will have our work cut out for us in serving our students as best we can as well as attracting new students without the benefit of a sparkling new fine arts building to show off. But I’m grateful for the legacy of “Old Luther” which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that great things are possible even in less than great circumstances – and Carthage is proof of it as well, as has Parkside been until now. And I think that on some level, we all benefit when something like The RIta opens its doors for business. If nothing else, it affirms the importance of the arts as an indispensable part of our collective lives.
If you are interested in seeing The Rita, you can come see it for yourself this Saturday. There is a dedication ceremony at 5 and a grand opening that evening in which all kinds of presentations by the music, theater and art departments can be sampled. Admission is free but you are asked to call ahead and register. The main phone # is 595-2345 – and you can also go to uwp.edu and type in <The Rita> to get more information.
pictured above: The Frances Bedford Concert Hall. It’s the namesake of one of the loveliest people I know, Frances Bedford, who was a member of the Parkside music faculty for many years, a gifted harpsichordist, and a friend of the arts everywhere. Her generosity was key to this beautiful concert hall being constructed to such a high standard. I almost soloed for the performances which inaugurated the hall: two performances of Handel’s Messiah in early December. Unfortunately, the dates directly conflicted with the Carthage Christmas Festival, but I was happy to suggest my friend and Luther classmate Brian Leeper, who teaches voice at UW-Whitewater and he did a wonderful job.
My own debut on the stage of this hall came last Saturday when I was baritone soloist for a performance of Faure’s Requiem which was presented in memory of Kris Novaeus, the choir director at Union Grove High School, who was killed last fall in a tragic motorcycle accident. It was so neat to experience those gorgeous acoustics as a singer from the stage. The only thing I felt bad about was that I stumbled badly as I came down from my place in the chorus for the first of my two solos. The stage includes some pull-out choral risers that are almost like a miniature set of bleachers, but because their color is identical to that of the stage floor, it’s easy to lose track of where you are. So as I stepped down, I thought I was already on the floor of the stage when in fact I was still up another step – and when I was unexpectedly stepping into the air, I went tumbling and was really lucky not to have crashed and hurt myself (or someone else.) I was smarting for the rest of the performance (in more ways than one!) but fortunately was able to sing pretty well… and be part of a tremendously moving performance.