Featuring a 250-seat performance hall, a spacious recording studio, and 18 practice rooms, the new Falls Hall Music Center is scheduled to open this winter. It will succeed Graves Hall as the primary venue for rehearsals and performances, while also serving as a hub for students who wish to pursue music both on stage and in the classroom.
Abbey Siegfried, Chair of the Music Department, detailed the features of the new building. She highlighted several components of Falls Music Center that she hopes will improve students’ ability to create and share music.
“There will be two computer labs, fully outfitted to not just do Sibelius but also to do producing and notation, composition, etc…There’s going to be so much more space. There will be 18 practice rooms, three different performance halls, three classrooms that will all also have pianos and be able to be used for chamber music and small groups, the recording studio, [and] the labs,” said Siegfried.
Siegfried mentioned her hopes with regard to Falls Hall’s ability to create community transcending musical experience. She emphasized the goal of having a space that can encourage all students to feel comfortable in the building.
“I think the biggest hope I have is that it’s a space where everyone feels welcome. There will be inviting spaces with couches and places to hang out in addition to [the] spaces to make music. I hope that anyone, no matter if they’ve played an instrument for ten years or they’re picking up an instrument for the first time here, would feel [that] the space is theirs. I want everyone to feel home there,” Siegfried said.
With the addition of three performance halls, most rehearsals and concerts will be held in Falls Hall. Bryan Bu ’26, member of the Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra, expressed the benefits that he believes will come with this new update.
“My hope for the new music building [is] a new performance area. Currently, the only real place to perform anything is in the [Cochran] Chapel, and that’s a huge area. It’d be cool if the new music building had a secondary performance hall that’s smaller than the Chapel… especially if the acoustics are good enough to handle having all the music ensembles in the same place without interfering with each other,” said Bu.
Despite the many eagerly anticipated additions that Falls Hall will bring, Ava Shu ’27 acknowledged the sentiments that she and her peers would experience as they left a building with so many memories.
“I definitely feel like Graves holds some sentimental value, especially for older students who have practiced in that building and rehearsed with peers… Graves still feels like a part of us and transitioning into a new building may feel a bit awkward at first, but I also think that students will enjoy it a lot more [because it’s] more functional and new,” said Shu.
Carina Paik ’28, a new junior, expressed the inspiration that Graves has already brought her through its unique architecture. She appreciated being exposed to her peers’ music just by staying in her own practice room, a feature that will be removed with the newly enforced soundproof walls of Falls Hall.
“I like the fact that [Graves] is not soundproof because personally, it’s very inspiring… especially when I hear a lot of the other violin players. Sometimes I’ll just take a walk around Graves to hear how everyone else is doing. It’s not particularly for comparison,” said Paik.
Helios Hong ’25, Co-President of the Phillips Academy Chamber Society and member of the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra at the New England Conservatory offered students advice similar to the wishes of Siegfried. He emphasized the power of being present.
“[To] the people who are playing music, don’t just go into the building, [and] lock yourself in a practice room. Being at Andover and being part of the music department, it’s nice to just sit in the lounge; people will start naturally talking to you, and you will develop a lot of relationships. Don’t just spend time practicing there, spend time actually being there,” said Hong.
