New Preforming Arts Center unveiled at IVC
After a four-year wait, the $32 million Irvine Valley College Performing Arts Center was unveiled Oct. 30.
The gala dedication took place at 6 p.m and included many speakers and several music performances by the trumpet fanfare ensemble, IVC Voces Master Chorale, and wind symphony.
“We started rehearsing since the middle of September,” said Stephen Rochford, IVC instrumental music director. “But the bulk of the work was done in the last three weeks.”
The trumpet fanfare ensemble, which harbors an astounding 50 trumpet players, was the first to perform that evening after many prominent speakers, including the IVC President Glenn Roquemore, the District Chancellor Raghu Mathur, and the Board of Trustee’s president David Lang.
The Chorale performed four songs, two of which were modern while the other two fell around the 1800s. The Chorale, although very popular, always encourages more students to join.
“We are not in desperate need for more students, but our goal is to have this be a place for all ages,” said Chorale Director Dean Shepherd. “They have predominantly older age groups in many community colleges. We are recruiting more and more high school students and growing in musicality and professionalism.”
The Choral is presenting “Cinema Choral Classics: Choral Music in the Movies” Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
“There will be music from Babe, Bridgette Jones’s Diary, Runaway Bride, and Chariots of Fire,” Shepherd said. “I chose great choral music that people would recognize and that are very powerful so it moves them emotionally.”
The gala was a great success as many came to eat delicately crafted provisions and listen to creative pieces. It was very exciting to welcome a new building on campus, especially for those waiting for a long time, but there will be another unveiling in summer 2008 when the Business, Science, and Technology building will be completed.
“We built the Performing Arts Center first because the faculty and staff made a strong, compelling, case,” Mathur said. “We were hearing for a long time their need for the building. When I went to one of their performances, I could identify their passion, quality, and dedication. We are building the business building next because we are in the hob of the business community.”