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Choir Room Renovations Boost Mississippi College Music Department


Mark Nabholz, director of MC choral activities and Music Department secretary Dottie Serio, are pictured at the newly renovated choral room at Aven Hall on the Clinton campus.

Extensive renovations for the Mississippi College Music Department’s choir room are causing quite a buzz on the Clinton campus.

A state-of-the art sound system was added, new cabinets were installed, risers were totally rebuilt and a new ceiling added among major changes for the room in Aven Hall. In addition, a newly purchased Steinway grand piano arrives soon. Two new flat-screen TVs bring another nice touch to the project.

Mark Nabholz, director of MC choral activities, couldn’t be more pleased.

“I’m delighted to have the chance to inaugurate the room this fall,” Nabholz said in early August. “This is very high-tech. They went above and beyond.”

The entire project, said the conductor of the Mississippi College Singers, is “very high-tech. This will be a great room for auditions.”

An anonymous lead gift was made and other donors supplied contributions to the fund drive that began last fall. Construction started in mid-May. The project represents the first major renovations for the Christian university’s choir room in 40 years.

The revamped facility will be ready for the start of Mississippi College’s fall classes and rehearsals when the 2015-16 academic year opens in late August.

Its formal re-opening is set for September 14 with the award-winning MC Singers to perform two mini-concerts. The event that Monday evening runs from 6-8 p.m. and includes a reception in the Aven Hall lobby. The concerts will be at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and the public is invited.

No doubt, the choir room at 326 Aven Hall figures to be one of the most utilized spaces in the Music Department.

“It serves not only as the home for choir rehearsals, but as a classroom, small performance hall, and is the location for music auditions each spring,” says professor Angie Willoughby, who chairs the Music Department.

It’s bound to be attractive to prospective freshmen and transfer students. From the floor that was replaced with a high-quality wood-grained laminate to new cabinets, closets and improved lighting, the room is getting a thumbs up from all visitors.

“The addition of work space, storage space, and the visual and audio components will enhance virtually every usage of the room,” Willoughby said.

Willoughby joins colleagues thankful to the generous gifts from donors giving to MC’s newly-formed Music Legacy Society.

Mississippi College music alumni and friends of the department provided gifts in memory of longtime faculty member Ralph Taylor. Others gifts were made in tribute to the late Graham Smith, an MC graduate who served for many years as the Mississippi Baptist Convention’s music director.

“It is humbling and encouraging to go through a fund-raising project such as this,” Willoughby said. “In the process, we have encountered so many people who are happy to be part of something like this that will benefit so many students for years to come,” she added. “This is an unforgettable gift.”