To the Editor:
I am pleased the Committee on Reimagining the Brown Campus and Community may recommend the University build a large-scale concert venue. A true concert hall would not just benefit the Department of Music and its concentrators, as The Herald’s coverage implied. During my time at Brown, the majority of students participating in department-sponsored ensembles were non-concentrators.
The lack of a large-scale venue suitable for music performance does a disservice to the hardworking faculty and students that comprise the broad music community. When I played in the Brown Jazz Band, we were forced to choose between performing in Grant Recital Hall — sonically excellent, but small — or a larger venue with horrific acoustics, like Salomon Hall. The Jazz Band recently performed with Kurt Rosenwinkel, just one in a long line of truly world-class jazz musicians to visit Brown. It is embarrassing that we cannot provide such artists with a venue befitting of their talents and reputations.
The committee will consider multi-purpose usage options for such a space, as is reasonable. But can we imagine campus without facilities like Meehan Auditorium or Leeds Theatre? How much multi-purpose use does the community get out of these and many other important buildings? There are certain facilities an institution of Brown’s stature must possess, so as to allow students of any academic or extracurricular persuasion to excel on campus. A concert hall is certainly one of these necessities.
Dan Davidson ’11.5
B.A. Music
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