Rice University's Shepherd School of Music opened the doors to the new Brockman Hall for Opera April 9, welcoming more than 2,000 guests to a community open house.
The event kicked off shortly before 11 a.m., when Dean Matthew Loden welcomed the crowd and thanked Mayor Sylvester Turner for declaring April 9 "Shepherd School of Music Day" in Houston. He also acknowledged members of Turner's staff and Rice's city council representative, Abbie Kamin, for their support of the university community. Lance Gilliam, Kamin's chief of staff, read the proclamation to the crowd gathered on the Piazza Del Musica outside the opera hall.
After a ribbon-cutting, Loden declared the opera hall officially open and people of all ages surged through the doors to participate in the many different activities planned for the day. As visitors entered the hall and the theater, there were audible oohs and ahhs as they took in the grand spaces. Attendees enjoyed performances by various instrumentalists and the Rice Chorale, toured different spaces throughout the hall, dressed up in opera costumes and took pictures on the stage in the Lucian and Nancy Morrison Theater.
"Seeing it from the outside, it is a very attractive building and it's a very big building, and I just wanted to come inside and see what all is in here," said Frank Jones '65. "It's really impressive, just outstanding."
There was also plenty to enjoy outside, with a variety of games to choose from, picnic tables for visiting and lounging and several local food trucks serving indulgent meals and treats.
"I'm from Austin, and we have nothing like this institution and this building," said Aviana Burkepile, a vocal performance graduate student. "It's absolutely amazing."
Loden said the day's goal was to help people get to know and feel comfortable within the new building.
"Opera as an art form is known as the pinnacle of Western classical music, because it pulls everything together - voice, drama, orchestra and theater," he said. "And we feel today's opening is also pulling everything together, because we're finally at a point where we can have the community of Houston come enjoy this fantastic building, be a part of something that's special and help us figure out how wonderfully we're going to be doing things in the future."
Loden said while there are a lot of preconceived notions about opera, it is simply another form of storytelling.
"Opera and music in general are storytelling. They connect you with people and allow you to share an experience," he said. "And what we're trying to do is to share that experience with the entire community. We're incredibly hopeful that people will come back over and over and over again to be a part of what we're trying to do here at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University."
"I'm just so incredibly grateful for (the hall)," said Tessa Fackelmann, a music performance graduate student. "It allows us to have a chance to work on a stage and do what we're going to be doing for the rest of our lives. And it also allows other people to use and share this space, which is fantastic."
For more information on the Shepherd School, visit https://music.rice.edu.
