Music Facilities
Sebring-Lewis Hall
Sebring-Lewis Hall, opened in 1999, seats 338 people in a 4,050 square-foot space. It is the home of most music department performances and numerous guest artist events. One of the first ensembles to perform in the hall, the American String Quartet, described it as "one of the two or three best halls in the country for chamber music." The rich colors and cherry wood details in the hall make it as beautiful aesthetically as it is acoustically. Electrically adjustable curtains in the upper back of the hall allow for a tunable acoustic. A well-equipped control room and numerous computer data and sound connection points within the hall itself allow Sebring-Lewis to accommodate experimental computer music as well as chamber and ensemble performances.
Music Department policies governing outside requests (Non-Music Deptartment or Public Events Committee) for use of Sebring-Lewis Hall for public events:
1. Requests to reserve Sebring-Lewis Hall for public events must be made by the event supervisor more than one week prior to the date of the event.
2. All arrangements for events in Sebring-Lewis are to be made by faculty or staff supervisors who must be present for the event and will be the contact for any problems in the use of the space. This is in accord with the policy that Music Department facilities may be used only for faculty- and staff-supervised activities. Paul Nelson (nelsonp@grinnell.edu) is the contact for logistical arrangements and Pam Poynter (POYNTERP@GRINNELL.EDU) for scheduling and other arrangements.
3. To avoid sound interference, events in Sebring-Lewis should not be scheduled against rehearsal times in FA103 unless the volume can be kept to a moderate level or lower. Users of Sebring-Lewis who schedule events simultaneous with rehearsals in FA103 should know that there may be sound interference between the two rooms. Unfortunately, the sound-proofing is inadequate to prevent this.
4. All uses of Sebring-Lewis should be compatible with the polished cherry wood stage floor. No uses involving high impact dance, tap shoes, sharp-edged stage sets, hammering and nailing, etc. are permitted.
5. Non-music-department users will directly contact, hire, and pay our approved student staff for managing and recording (if desired) any event in Sebring-Lewis. Contact Paul Nelson for a list of student workers.
6. Provided they are not in use for music lesson instruction, two green rooms are available for use by those who reserve Sebring-Lewis Hall. Large groups needing more space for warm-ups, instrument case storage, etc., may inquire about the availability of one of the music rehearsal rooms. In the case such a room is used, the group will be responsible for contacting, hiring, and paying a Music Department student staff member to monitor the room while it is occupied.
7. Spaces will be left as clean and well cared for as they were before the event.
8. There will be no last minute requests. All equipment and logistical needs must be communicated to Paul Nelson as early as possible and no later than one week before the event.
9. Any publicity, programs, or tickets for outside uses of Sebring-Lewis will be the responsibility of the user rather than the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts office staff.
Policy of Fri, 10 Mar 2000 15:40:11
Updated 28 Jun 2002
Eugene Gaub (gaub@grinnell.edu)
Grinnell College Music Department
