Facilities
Aven Fine Arts building was completed in 1959. Today, it houses the music,art, and communication departments. Classrooms, studios, and department administrative offices are located in this building. A recent renovation of the main floor includes the auditorium, which is used for opera and music theater productions, as well as student, faculty, and guest artist performances. Students studying piano while at Mississippi College have access to a number of high-caliber instruments, many of which were purchased in the last ten years. There are sixteen practice pianos including two grand pianos, all located in Wenger sound-proof modules. Voice studios were equipped with new pianos in 2004 and each piano studio holds two pianos. In recital areas there is one 9' Steinway concert grand in Swor Auditorium, two 9' Baldwin concert grands in Swor and Aven, one Baldwin baby grand in Provine and the two new 7'6" Steinway grands on stage in the Aven recital hall. Practice rooms are Wenger V-ready modules that create a quiet practicing environment. Four of them are V-rooms which are equipped with acoustic sound enhancement technology allowing the student to practice in a variety of simulated performing spaces.
The Mississippi College Band Hall provides abundant space for the MC band program and instrumental department. Built in 1978 and consisting of a major rehearsal hall, practice rooms, music library, student lounge, and plenty of storage spaces, the band hall is utilized for most instrumental music classes, rehearsals and lessons.
The College acquired Hilltop Theater for use as a band hall in 1969. The building was renovated to accommodate the Mississippi College Naturals in 1997. In the summer of 2005, a new floor was installed. The facility has been equipped with ballet barres for the ballet, tap and jazz classes associated with the music theater degree.
The Leland Speed Library serves as the primary research center for both undergraduate and graduate level students. The main floor houses the Circulation Desk, the Learning Resource Center (LRC), and the reference collection. Reserve items are also found on this floor in the LRC. The second floor contains the Periodicals Department along with public computers giving access to our library databases. The basement level houses the general library collection that is cataloged according to the Dewey Decimal Classification System. The general library houses 4389 volumes, 51 full text journals from databases, and 23 periodicals related to the Department of Music. Electronic access to all holdings is available. Students can access records of holdings by title, author, subject, call number, and word search. Electronic access to other databases is also available, including EBSCOhost, LEXIS-NEXIS ACADEMIC UNIVERSE, and FIRSTSEARCH.
Music resources, including scores and audiovisual materials, are housed in the Learning Resources Center (LRC), located on the first floor of the Library. Periodicals, books, and collected editions are located in the general library collection. Because the LRC houses and manages recordings, videotapes, and related resources for the entire campus, some non-music materials are also housed in the LRC. The Learning Resources Center houses 2467 scores, 2009 compact discs, 3967 vinyl sound recordings, and 337 music-related videos and 48 DVDs. NAXOS, a digital library of classical music, is available to students as a listening resource.
The piano lab is also located in AV-3 in the Learning Resource Center of the Leland Speed Library. The pianos have 88 weighted keys and a variety of midi sounds. There are ten student pianos and one instructor piano which are connected to a central soundboard allowing for individual or group instruction.
Provine Chapel, built in 1860, is one of the most important buildings on today's campus. It was previously known as the "Old Chapel" and provides a strong connection to the college's past. It was the first building built after Baptists assumed control of the college in 1850. The lower level provides offices and classrooms for the Department of Christian Studies and Philosophy, while the auditorium on the upper level is used for meetings, weddings and other special events. The auditorium is used by the music department for Festival of Lights, recitals, and other choral concerts. This space also houses a completely refurbished M. P. Moller organ used by the music department for recitals by students, faculty and guest artists.
Swor Auditorium is located in Nelson Hall, the campus administration building. Nelson Hall was built in 1948 as an alternative to Provine Chapel, which was becoming too small for the campus. The auditorium, renovated in 1998, has a seating capacity of 823. Special campus events, band and choral concerts are held in this space.
Located in Aven Fine Arts Building is the Jean Pittman Williams Recital Hall. This recently renovated space has raked theater seating, state of the art lighting, two 7' Steinway grand pianos on the stage and a 9' Baldwin on the floor. Student and faculty recitals, guest recitals, and opera and music theater productions are held in this auditorium.
