Facilities

Phillips Recital Hall
Designed by William L. Rawn, the world renowned architect behind Boston Symphony Orchestra's Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, the recital hall is a model of optimal acoustic performance and architectural creativity, and continues to astound audiences and performers alike. Student and faculty recitals, master classes, chamber music concerts, guest artist performances, small staged productions, and other special events fill the recital hall throughout the school year. The hall is also an important ensemble rehearsal space and home to various other departmental and campus events. Two Steinway D concert grand pianos (an American [New York] and a Hamburg) are housed in the hall, along with a Kawai grand piano.

Seating around 140 people and featuring a full side of the hall with a windowed view of Coy Pond and the Gordon Woods, the Phillips Recital Hall offers an intimate performance experience to both the performer and audience member. The hall features a retractable sound curtain built into a dowel wall for acoustic adjustment, an upper-level mezzanine, audio and video recording equipment, and customizable performance lighting.

A two manual, 15 rank E. F. Walcker & Co. tracker-action organ (Opus 5104) is installed in a second-story loft. The organ, built around 1968, has made its home in both Prince Chapel (Gordon's original chapel and music building) and in the Oliver Recital Hall at Barrington College before the merge with Gordon in 1985.

Studios / Practice Rooms
Most practice rooms and studios are fitted with an upright or grand piano, and many have large windows overlooking the natural beauty of Coy Pond and the 400+ acres of Gordon-owned woods. In addition to the piano studio fitted with two Steinway D concert grand pianos (a New York and a Hamburg), piano majors are offered a designated practice room with a Steinway grand piano. Several other practice rooms are designated for other instruments including organ and harpsichord practice rooms.

Classroom
The classroom in Phillips Music Center—outfitted with its own grand piano, high fidelity audio system, wireless internet access, and a SMART Board interactive whiteboard—is home to many of Gordon's music courses. Graduate and undergraduate students alike find the classroom, with its view of Coy Pond, a comfortable and inspiring place in which to learn. In addition to the Phillips classroom, music courses are taught in the Phillips Recital Hall (above), the A. J. Gordon Memorial Chapel (below), the Music Technology Lab (below), the Jenks Learning Resource Center, and Chase Hall.

The Philip Music Center Music Technology Laboratory – (Opened August 2014)

• Advanced teaching tools with dual-touch Interactive LED screen
• Group Education Control system - digital mixer for group education purposes (collaborative/performance)
• 192 kHz professional recording capability (multi track dubbing or live recording)
• Live performances, composing and visual scoring with 5.1 Surround Sound environment
• Contemporary electronic programmable keyboard controller for electronic music performances and programming
• Ivory touch fully weighted 88 Kawai VPC1 with American Concert D Steinway realtime sampling playback technology (synthology.com)
• Apple Logic X for hard disk recording, pre production, MIDI programming, digital signal processing, composition, writing for visual and music editing.
• Use of electronic drum kit to replicate conventional drumming and beyond
• Professional digital notation programs (Sibelius & Finale) for score preparation and lesson plans.
• Music industry standard condenser microphone for solo voice and instrument recording
• QU-16 Digital live console for electronic productions
• iPad is wirelessly connected as a remote controller for the teacher station QU-16 Digital Mixer and MacPro (Logic X) for programming and recording.
• iPad is also used as a remote for sound reinforcement during recording session or electronic performances in the lab
• All the work stations in the lab are connected with point-to-point shielded Cat6 infrastructure to the GEC system. This means the lab is set for an 18 pieces electronic ensemble.
• In conjunction with the QU-16 (16 inputs + The Universal Apollo audio interface with 18 simultaneous inputs)... and the combination of the 18 workstations mentioned above... an electronic orchestra can be a reality.