SUU Celebrates New Era for Music With Eccles Music Center |
Featuring Okerlund Concert Hall and Bradshaw Family Recital Hall |
Cedar City has long made room for the performing arts, and the Eccles Music Center gives local musicians a new place to grow.
Southern Utah University celebrated the center’s opening on September 24 with a ribbon cutting attended by campus and community leaders.
The occasion marked a practical milestone for students who need space to study, rehearse and perform. The 51,250-square-foot building sits near other university arts venues, placing music within Cedar City’s established cultural district.
Its centerpiece, the 510-seat Okerlund Concert Hall, is the university music program’s first on-campus venue designed specifically for large ensembles. A choir loft, balcony and box seats offer different ways to experience a performance without losing the hall’s intimate feel.
The Bradshaw Family Recital Hall adds a smaller setting that can also accommodate choral rehearsals. For performers, having both spaces means more opportunities to match the room to the music.
Beyond the stages, the center includes instructional and rehearsal rooms, a piano lab, a percussion studio and spaces for music technology.
Those facilities reflect a program that now teaches more than five times the number of music students its previous building was designed to serve.
The opening changes more than the university’s footprint; it gives future musicians room to develop their work in Cedar City.
Designers also looked beyond campus, drawing on southern Utah’s colors, textures and landscapes to help the building feel at home. At its entrances, a longtime landmark tree and a preserved stained glass window connect the new facility with local history.
That attention to place gives a large construction project something more personal: a sense of continuity with the community around it. University leaders and supporters used the celebration to recognize the planning, advocacy and work required to bring the center together.
Still, the building’s value will be measured less by its opening ceremony than by what happens inside it. Students now have purpose-built places to practice, collaborate and take the stage, while audiences have new settings in which to hear them.
For Cedar City, the promise is as exciting as the first performance: more room for a musical tradition shared by campus and community. |
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Seems like a lot of square footage for a music building but if the program has grown that much then it makes sense. Hope they actually fill it.
Cedar City already has so much going on with the Shakespeare festival and everything. Adding a real concert hall just makes this town even better for the arts.
Amber J.Totally agree. Between the festival, the outdoor scenery, and now this, Cedar City is punching way above its weight for a town this size.
A percussion studio and a piano lab in the same building sounds like a headache for whoever schedules the rooms but good for the students I guess.
Ron ChristensenHa, fair point. Whoever runs that schedule is going to earn their paycheck. Though I imagine the percussion studio has some solid soundproofing built in, at least I'd hope so.
The colors and textures inspired by southern Utah is such a cool design choice. This area is so beautiful and it makes sense to reflect that in a building like this.
I drove past during the ribbon cutting and there was a good crowd out there. Nice to see the community show up for something like this.
Linda WashburnI caught the tail end of it. Parking was a bit of a mess but the turnout really was solid for a Wednesday morning.
Hope the ticket prices for concerts stay reasonable so regular Cedar City families can actually go. Would hate for it to become something only certain people can afford.
Mike SorensonThat's always my concern with new venues like this. SUU events have generally been pretty affordable in my experience so hopefully that carries over here.
Five times the number of students their old building was built for. Five times. No wonder they needed this.
Patrice G.Right? That number really puts it in perspective. It's not like they built this for fun, they genuinely ran out of room a long time ago.
The stained glass window detail is a nice touch. Good to see they didnt just bulldoze everything old to put up something new.
jared_ccSame. That stained glass window caught my eye in the photos. Preserving something like that takes extra effort and it's good they bothered.
510 seats is impressive for a college venue. Curious if the public can buy tickets to performances or if its mostly just for students and faculty.
Debra FolkmanSUU usually opens their performances to the public. Worth checking their arts calendar. I've been to a few events there over the years and tickets were pretty reasonable.
Been waiting for this for years. My daughter is in the SUU music program and they were crammed into that old building. So glad she gets to use this before she graduates.
Travis M.That's awesome, congrats to her. What year is she? Hopefully she gets at least a full year or two in there before she's done.