Concert Facilities

Each year the College of Music offers over 500 concerts and recitals featuring faculty members, students, guest artists, and ensembles of all sizes. Performance opportunities include choral ensembles, jazz bands, concert bands, chamber music, music theatre, opera, orchestras and various special ensembles including a wide variety of world music ensembles. The primary facilities for the College of Music are the Kuersteiner Music Building, built in 1948 and named for school’s second dean, Karl O. Kuersteiner, and the Housewright Music Building, built in 1978 and named for the third dean, Wiley Housewright. These buildings, constructed specifically for music activities, both include classrooms, ensemble rehearsal rooms, private studios, offices, and student practice rooms. The College of Music also maintains office, classroom, and performance spaces in the Longmire Building and the Westcott Building.

The Westcott building was constructed in 1909 and serves as the home for FSU’s central administrative offices, including the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost. An auditorium was added to the building in 1917 and was demolished and rebuilt in 1952. In 1970 it was named for Miss Ruby Diamond, a Florida State College for Women (FSCW) graduate (1905) and FSU benefactor. The first home of the College of Music was in the Westcott building when it was originally called simply the administration building. In 1936 it was officially named after James D. Westcott, Jr., former Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice. In 1992 the College of Music resumed a presence in the Westcott building when it assumed day-to-day management of Ruby Diamond Auditorium, a general use university event space. In 2010 the newly christened Ruby Diamond Concert Hall was reopened following a 38 million dollar renovation that completely transformed the facility into a 1172 seat music performance space and added state of the art production systems along with dressing rooms, wardrobe, catering kitchen, green room, production offices, and a large rehearsal room. The renovation also created space for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Lobby which welcomes visitors to Westcott and RDCH. Today the performance hall is seen as a cultural icon not only at the university, but within the Tallahassee arts community, and functions as the premier performance venue for College of Music students and faculty.

In front of the Westcott building is the Westcott Plaza which includes the iconic Westcott Fountain and FSU entrance gate. The plaza is paved with commemorative bricks and graduates, family and supporters of FSU and the Florida State College for Women are encouraged to purchase their own personally engraved bricks for permanent installation around the Plaza. See the Westcott Plaza live via webcam!

Opperman Music Hall is a 437 seat concert hall located in the Kuersteiner building and is named for Ella Scoble Opperman, who served as the first dean of music from 1911 to 1944. The hall can accommodate concerts ranging from solo recitals to chamber orchestra and band concerts, as well as opera. The 1975, 34-stop Holtkamp Tracker Organ seen on the stage is used for recitals, concerts, and lessons. Other organs are available in the school to students for practice and performance.

 Dohnányi Recital Hall, located in the Housewright building, is a 215 seat facility used mainly for recitals and lectures. Ernst Von Dohnányi, for whom this recital hall is named, was a composer-in-residence at FSU from 1949 until his death in 1960. A world-renowned composer and pianist, he was director of the Budapest Music Academy, and held other important posts in his native Hungary until the outbreak of World War II. Many of his works are still performed throughout the world today.

Lindsay Recital Hall, located in the Kuersteiner building, is named for Joe Lindsay, a retired businessman from Carabelle, Florida. His initial interest in music began as an adult when he started taking viola lessons with a member of the faculty. His support included many generous financial contributions to the College of Music, including a four-year scholarship awarded to an undergraduate string player. A choral rehearsal hall before it was renovated and named in 1989, Lindsay Hall is now used as a 100-seat lecture/recital space.

The historic Longmire building was constructed in 1938 and named in honor of Rowena Longmire, founder of the FSCW Alumni Association. Renovated in 1969, the building retains its architectural interest and integrity. Originally constructed for use by the Alumni Association, Longmire has, through the years, housed a wide variety of specialized areas from guest quarters and a soda shop to the music and law libraries. The lobby and first floor offices still retain their original oak paneling, and the Beth Moor and Alumni lounges have hand-painted plaster ceilings and Gothic décor. The building is home to the College of Music office for Performance Scheduling, as well as faculty and teaching assistant offices for Music Theory, Musicology, and Piano Pedagogy. One of two group piano classroom/laboratories (the other is in the Music Living-Learning Center at Cawthon Hall) is located on the fourth floor. In 2008 the College of Music partnered with the Office of the Provost and the Office of Instructional Technology to renovate an old lecture hall on the 2nd floor. The newly renovated Longmire Recital Hall seats 140 and presents a perfect venue for piano, vocal, string and chamber music recitals.

The Owen F. Sellers Music Amphitheater is a unique outdoor performance space used primarily in the fall and spring. Among many accomplishments, Owen Sellers served as the assistant dean of the College of Music from 1931 until 1973, and organized and directed the first band. The amphitheatre is situated at the north end of Mina Jo Powell Green, and is surrounded on three sides by the Kuersteiner Music Building and the Longmire Building, which creates a very effective acoustic music space.