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Flourish Online Magazine | Winter 2007 |
Expanding the tradition of excellence:
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Bailey Performance Center and
All-Steinway Announcement
Usher in new Era
By Cheryl Anderson Brown
Few names resonate quality like the name Steinway. It is an icon in the music world; the epitome of excellence. With the opening of the much-anticipated performance center, Kennesaw State University hopes to add another such name to that short list: Bailey.
Thanks to a $1.75 million gift from longtime KSU benefactor and trustee Dr. Bobbie Bailey, the new $9 million building was officially named the Dr. Bobbie Bailey and Family Performance Center during a gala event on Oct. 6. Bailey’s initial gift included the naming of the building, the naming of the building’s atrium in honor of family friend and arts supporter Anna F. Henriquez and the purchase of a new Steinway D concert grand piano, dedicated to the memory of her mother, Mary Elizabeth Bailey.
All of these gifts help to advance Kennesaw State’s commitment of excellence in the study of music, but Bailey came to the event with one more present up her jacket sleeve that evening.
“After my visit to Steinway & Sons in New York City [to select the Steinway D],” she told the audience, “I learned the importance of the university’s music department having Steinway accreditation. I was so inspired by their presentation, I am making the commitment to purchase the pianos necessary to make KSU an All-Steinway School of Music.”
The crowd roared approval as KSU President Daniel S. Papp and College of the Arts Dean Joseph Meeks laughed with joy. This latest gift includes 26 new pianos, bringing the grand total of Bailey’s contribution to more than $2 million, the largest gift the College of the Arts has ever received.
Dean Meeks was overwhelmed. “This is absolutely a dream realized,” he said. “This hall and the designation as an All-Steinway School will help make Kennesaw State one of the premier music schools in the Southeast.”
Music at Kennesaw State has always been committed to excellence. It was the first arts program at the university to receive national accreditation in 1985 and it has experienced explosive growth in the last several years, with more than 70 percent increase in enrollment since 2000.
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The department now houses more than a dozen performance ensembles, including a symphony orchestra, two jazz ensembles and an opera theatre company. Half of the instrumental faculty are members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, a quarter perform with the Atlanta Opera orchestra and two are with the Cobb Symphony Orchestra.
With the All-Steinway designation, KSU joins the ranks of top-tier institutions of music, including The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music. KSU is only the third university in Georgia to be recognized as an All-Steinway, along with the University of Georgia and Spelman College.
As part of the Bailey Center opening celebration, the Department of Music demonstrated its quality with a stellar performance designed to showcase the outstanding acoustical design of the concert hall and the myriad talents of the department’s faculty and students. Guests were wowed by a fast-paced and dramatic collage of performances from African drumming to classical violin. From a piano etude to a jazz combo with attitude. From opera arias to Broadway music. All culminating in a joint performance of the Kyrie from Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass” by the KSU Orchestra and Chamber Singers.
“I cannot think of an evening that I have ever enjoyed more,” said KSU education alumnus Don Russell Clayton, who
donated the Athos Menaboni art collection that now
resides in the Don Russell Clayton Gallery in the Bailey Performance Center.
Clayton’s excitement was echoed by everyone present that evening and reflected on their faces as they hugged and kissed good-bye.
None were more enthusiastic than the students who will benefit from learning with Steinway pianos in the Dr. Bobbie Bailey and Family Performance Center.
“This space is magical,” said Peter Witte, chair of the music department. “Dr. Bailey’s benevolence is an affirmation of our work together. First a performance center, now a Steinway program. Imagine what the future holds.”
View more images from the celebration surrounding the opening of the Bailey Performance Center.