‘A special gift’: Apostle dedicates stunning new BYU Music Building – Deseret News

PROVO, Utah — When director Nathan Haines made the finale of the “Organ Symphony” by Camille Saint-Saëns one of the musical selections for this year’s BYU Philharmonic Orchestra, he didn’t know it would be played at the December re-opening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
He also didn’t know the new BYU Music Building would be dedicated on Wednesday by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The student orchestra accompanied the dedication with a vigorous, soaring performance of the “Organ Symphony” led by sweeping strings and energetic brass in a concert hall that inspires wonder, one remarkable in American higher education and highlighted by a crown jewel of an organ with 4,603 pipes.
Nineteen-year-old violinist Sydney Stewart, who was seated just behind Elder Christofferson on the stage, smiled broadly as she played the piece with the 96 other members of the orchestra.
“That piece really fills a special place in my heart … and that finale is, I think, one of the most amazing moments in classical music,” said Stewart, a junior majoring in neuroscience from Blackfoot, Idaho. “And I have never performed that close to an apostle before. It was a really cool experience.”
The hall is built in a round — “vineyard style” — and spans all four floors of the building. The effect evokes an intimate feeling because no audience member is farther than 15 rows from the stage, but the hall still somehow seats 1,000 people.
BYU joins a minority of universities that have dedicated music buildings, said Elder Christofferson, who called this one a “standout facility” and “one of the very best.”
“This attests to the value that Brigham Young University and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attach to music and its vast potential for good in society and for the blessing of the human soul,” he said.
Another stunning feature is one of the organ’s keyboards, which is inserted in the wall among the pipes several feet above ground.
“I wonder what it would be like to sit up there and kind of float while you play organ,” said Elder Christofferson, who is the chairman of the executive committee of BYU’s board of trustees.
The dedication also was accompanied by the BYU Choral Chamber Ensemble, which sang “Nuper rosarum flores,” a piece composed by Guillaume Dufay for the 1436 dedication of Brunelleschi’s famous dome in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower in Florence, Italy.
The singing and music sounded better than the most-expensive speaker or headphones or earbuds, with the hall creating surround sound that was crystal clear and immersive. Dark brown wood panels on the walls of the hall are customizable to create “the perfect acoustic atmosphere for each group on stage,” according to the dedication program.
“It is stunning to hear the acoustics in this hall,” BYU President Shane Reese said.
The effect is enhanced by large reflective panels in the ceiling above the stage that both form the petals of a Mackintosh rose design motif and distribute sound with balance.
The building is “a special gift,” the director of the BYU School of Music, Diane Reich, said in the opening prayer.
Reese said having an apostle of Jesus Christ dedicate the music building was “a holy and sacred experience.”
BYU’s president said the arts building, now under construction, and the music building is an unprecedented investment for a sponsoring institution, the Church of Jesus Christ, in music and the arts.
“I submit that our unique and powerful governance at BYU, our prophetic direction, is unmatched by any other institution of higher education in the United States, indeed in the world, as it relates to investment in music and in the arts,” he said.
Both Elder Christofferson and Reese referred to the 1975 Second Century Address given by church President Spencer W. Kimball during the 100th anniversary celebration of BYU. President Kimball set a goal that BYU would refine brilliant stars in music while hosted at the university.
Reese said the new building will hasten the development of those stars.
Elder Christofferson dedicated the building “that the mission of BYU as envisioned by prophets, will be realized in full.”
“We’re grateful for the power of music to gladden the heart, lift the troubled and weary spirit, speak peace to the soul, grant courage to the righteous and then foster joy in thy children,” he prayed. “We’re grateful for the power of music to ennoble us and glorify thee.”
He also called for divine aid.
“May thy Holy Spirit reign here, bearing with him the influence and power of thy holiness. May the grace of thy son, Jesus Christ, attend those who teach and study and perform here,” he prayed.
Elder Christofferson thanked those who helped finance the building’s construction both in his talk and the dedicatory prayer. He reserved special attention to those who pay tithing to the church, which uses significant portions of those funds to sponsor the church’s schools.
“We feel particular appreciation for those who sacrifice and tithes and offerings makes it possible to build and operate and maintain this building and all the facilities of this university and the Church Education System, let alone the chapels and temples essential to carrying out thy work,” he prayed. “Be mindful of and bless each of these faithful saints.”
The building, set in part of the parking lot for the J. Reuben Clark Law Building, includes 171,000 square feet. It has the concert hall, a studio, a recital hall, a choral hall, practice rooms, ensemble rooms, classrooms and more.
The jagged pipe tops, which on Wednesday included subtle blue lighting, symbolize the Wasatch Mountains just east of the building.
The dedication also included Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and church commissioner of education, and other leaders.
Neil Harmon played the organ for the “Organ Symphony.”

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