It will be a happy new year indeed for the Dragon Band and Choir Programs, as they will be kicking off the Spring semester in the brand new Fine Arts Complex on the campus of Carroll Senior High School. Starting January 4, the choir program and band program will have access to the northern section of the facility, which includes the choir, jazz and ensemble room, along with the attached practice areas.
All band and choir classes will start the second semester in the new facility, while the Winter Guard will continue their classes at Carroll High until the new band hall becomes available later in the semester. “This facility will provide an enormous amount of space for our students,” said Carroll ISD Director of Bands Ken Johnson. “We are very fortunate to have assistant teachers for our choir and band classes, and with this new space at our disposal, we will be able to split classes and sections out into the extra areas for instruction, giving our students and even more individualized learning experience.”
Currently, the theatre, choir and jazz programs are all using the back of house in the current auditorium space at Carroll Senior High. With choir and jazz transitioning into the new facility for next semester, the Theatre Department will be able to move in and utilize their new black box theater.
“Choir is unreservedly excited about the move to the music center,” said Director of Choral Activities Paul Doucet. “We will now be able to explore producing small operas and other vocal events that we simply did not have the space to attempt in the past!”
The new band hall and practice rooms, percussion room and percussion storage and the color guard locker room will be available for student use roughly around Spring Break, with the auditorium projected to open in the late spring.
The directors of these fine arts programs are extremely excited to have art, theater, choir and band all on the same campus together in the same facility, which will hopefully provide new and creative ways for the Carroll fine arts program as a whole to collaborate. “We look forward to collaborating with the band on a more consistent basis, now that all music programs are on one campus,” said Doucet.
“Having an auditorium adjacent to our rehearsal halls will provide a fantastic opportunity for our choirs and bands to go on stage prior to performances, do sound checks and adjustments and have a great feel for the hall,” said Johnson. “Our indoor drumline and winter guard classes will be able to have their classes in the gymnasium-sized band hall, which is a feature very unique to most secondary programs.”
Some non-musical features that the Band and Choir Directors are excited to utilize are the windows in the choir and band rooms, and the decrease in time and wear and tear on the percussion instruments by not having to move them from campus-to-campus and for performances.
Carroll ISD voters approved a $208 million bond proposition in May of 2017, and technology and construction projects have been taking place district-wide the past three years. The completion of the Fine Arts Complex will wrap up the majority of the 2017 Bond Program construction projects and improvements. “We are so very thankful to the citizens of this superb district for seeing the immense value in the arts and providing a space for art to flourish,” said Doucet.
