Instruction, Rehearsal, and Research Spaces

The instructional and performance activities of the School of Music take place in several locations on the Lawrence campus. Murphy Hall is a five-level facility containing offices for faculty in applied music, music theory and composition, opera, musicology, and ensembles. It contains choral and instrumental rehearsal halls, the Thomas Gorton Music and Dance Library, the Electronic Music Studio, the Kansas Center for Music Technology, classrooms, and practice rooms. Murphy Hall contains offices for faculty in music education and music therapy, the Psychology and Acoustics of Music Laboratory, and classrooms.

Instruments

The School of Music has a significant inventory of musical instruments. There are 150 pianos, mostly Steinways, Yamahas, and Baldwins, including six concert grands. Other specialized equipment includes a Roland keyboard lab; the Collegium Musicum instrument collection which includes recorders, shawms, sackbuts, cornetts, crumhorns, lutes, violas da gamba, cornamuses, a ranket, a Baroque trumpet, and percussion instruments; a clavichord; four harpsichords; six practice organs; and a full complement of band and orchestral instruments.

Thomas Gorton Music and Dance Library

A fine library is a fundamental component in any school and the Thomas Gorton Music and Dance Library is an exceptional resource for the faculty and students of the School of Music. Books, scores, sound recordings, periodicals, and microforms number in excess of 100,000, fully servicing all degree programs offered. The facility contains listening equipment, study carrels, and computer terminals for on-line searches. The Library is staffed with professional music librarians who are able to assist with any need.

The Archive of Recorded Sound, a part of the Music and Dance Library, is an exceptional collection of sound recordings of great historical significance. It contains more than 75,000 items, including the Wright Jazz Collection, the Seaver Opera Collection, and Bierley Early Band Collection. The Archive contains all equipment necessary for playback of its various early recording technologies, including Pathe, Edison, and cylinder players. The Archive is a tremendous resource for performers and scholars.

The Richard F. Wright Jazz Archive at the University of Kansas, part of the Music and Dance Library, is one of the most complete of its kind in the Midwest. Its holdings thoroughly cover all major jazz periods from the 1920’s and 1930’s on 78-rpm recordings. The Archive also has an on-line database of its recordings.

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School of Music Vocology Lab

The School of Music Vocology Laboratory is an integral component of our programs in choral pedagogy and voice pedagogy, both of which offer opportunities to explore ongoing dialogue among musicians and voice science experts, in addition to honing superb teaching, conducting, performing, and musicological skills. The lab affords state of the art resources for research-based approaches to real world singing contexts, and has both stationary and mobile capabilities.

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School of Music Computer Lab

Lab hours are as follows:
Sunday: 1:00pm–10:00pm
Monday: 12:30pm–1:30pm, 4:30pm–10:00pm
Tuesday: 12:30pm–10:00pm
Wednesday: 4:30pm–5:30pm, 7:30pm–10:00pm
Thursday: 12:30pm–1:30pm, 4:30pm–10:00pm
Friday: 11:30am–12:30pm
Saturday: 12:00pm–5:00pm