Visitors to Washington University are rightfully impressed by our new facilities: the Knight Center, Lab Sciences Building, and Whittaker Hall, among others. Upon seeing these fantastic new buildings, visitors to whom I am giving a tour often then ask to see our music performance space, expecting it to be as grand. I then have to admit that the music department has no performance space. When the visitors subsequently try to hide their shock, perhaps I should offer them Chancellor Wrighton’s words as comfort. “I think it’s true that a performing arts center has not been a priority in terms of the development of facilities; that’s not a secret,” Wrighton explained to the Post-Dispatch in September.

It is indeed no secret that music and performing arts at WU take a back-seat to what the chancellor diplomatically described as “competing considerations”-that is, the big-bucks departments-in the newspaper article. I’ve watched as the business school built itself the Knight Center (including luxury hotel), as chemistry students received state-of-the art labs, and as land was broken for a new earth & planetary sciences building. Meanwhile, the music department struggles with no performance space to call its own. We are forced to compete for time in Graham Chapel, Steinberg Auditorium, and Edison Theater, none of which were designed for music. Last year performers of solo recitals had to move performance dates several times because no space was available. Now at least they can comfort themselves knowing that our Chancellor has stated officially that my field of study, music, simply isn’t a priority for this institution.

Furthermore, the music department has to pay each time it wants to use most facilities. That’s right: not only does it not have a space to call its own, but it also has to pay other departments for the pleasure of using their (acoustically poor) spaces! This year, the university decided that building a temporary stage in Graham Chapel on which to produce a critically acclaimed WU opera was too much trouble. This left the opera with nothing, so when “The Most Happy Fella” opens this Friday and Saturday it will be presented off-campus in the auditorium of the St. Louis Art Museum. The producers and performers are happy about this change, as the Art Museum offers facilities far superior to those available on campus. So do many of St. Louis’ suburban high schools. The University of Missouri at St. Louis and Missouri Baptist University, both of which recently opened multi-million dollar performing arts centers, also offer better accommodations. WU’s administration, meanwhile, continually ignores the performing arts in favor of those “competing considerations.”

The troubles extend to music’s everyday facilities. Since approximately 10 percent of undergraduates take music lessons, many of the rehearsal spaces have become makeshift teaching studios, leaving the students with next to nothing. Some of our voice faculty have been asked to teach full days in chambers equivalent to singing in the dumpster of the department’s parking lot (which, given the number of tickets issued daily within, must be a major money-maker for WU). The music department is also one of the few without a “smart” classroom complete with computer and projector. The choir rehearsal room’s climate is as variable as the outdoor temperature. If you pass by Blewett House on your way to class and think how nice it must be, I invite you to step inside and notice its peeling paint, cramped spaces, and mismatched furniture. As you continue your walk to campus, I invite you to stroll through the recently renovated Simon Hall. Then ask yourself: is this fair?

It is time that WU’s administration recognizes the importance of music and other performing arts. Sometimes they do: notice that when our university marked the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we did not hear lectures from biologists, chemists, or physicists. Rather, we naturally turned to the arts, with performances by the orchestra, the Chamber Choir, and several dancers. While it is always an honor to perform, and the very nature of performance is to share our art with others, the hypocritical nature of the university’s invitation is almost offensive.

The time has come for WU to stop using the performing arts where it seems appropriate and labeling us a public ‘non-priority’ the rest of the time. Performing arts students who are asked to pay the same amount for tuition as those who study biology or business deserve equal treatment. A good place to begin would be a performing arts facility that rivals the Knight Center, Lab Sciences Building, and Whittaker Hall in its grandeur and functionality.

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