“To say that the current study hall/choir room/drama space is an effective performance space is humorous, unless it is for sentimental reasons or for the opportunity to see creativity in survival mode,” says Judy Herrington, Lower School music teacher and founder and director of the Tacoma Youth Chorus. She’s got a real point, but listening to the Upper School choirs perform at their winter concert, you would have no idea the conditions in which they rehearse.

The choral music program rehearses in the space originally intended for a study hall. It’s also the drama program’s theater and storage space for both the drama and instrumental music programs. The acoustics in that practice room make it particularly difficult to find your note in the harmony or balance your tone and volume with other students. The only rehearsal space for sectionals is out in the hallway or in other classrooms.

Acoustics are critical for singers. Unlike the Wight gym or Middle School commons, the auditorium in the new Language and Performing Arts Center is designed to ensure that every member of the audience can hear the voice of even the smallest child on stage without a microphone.

The choral musicians will have their own spacious rehearsal room and will share four practice rooms with the instrumental music program. These rooms will allow the director to keep an eye on all of her students, while giving them sound-proof space in which to rehearse. They will also be storage for music, instruments and robes.

Here’s what the new Language and Performing Arts Center has in store for the choral music program:

• Rehearsal room for up to 50 students studying MS and US choral music to rehearse together
• Office space for the choral music director adjacent to the choir room
• Portable risers for maximum flexibility
• Lowest level of the room is at the same level as the stage in the performance space so the grand piano can be moved into the studio for performances
• Storage space for robes and music
• Correct reflective and absorptive surfaces for optimized acoustics
• Ability to “tune” the room to specific acoustic needs of choral music
• Acoustically separated from adjacent spaces (so you don’t have to listen to the band practice while you sing)
• Drinking fountain and bathrooms easily accessible