Music education should involve more than playing instruments or songwriting.
That is emphasized constantly at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music, which recently unveiled its new Knight Center for Music Innovation in Coral Gables. The 25,000-square foot building is home to the Robert and Judi Prokop Newman Recital Hall and the Thomas D. Hormel Innovation Stage, a versatile space equipped with recording, lighting and broadcast technology.
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Both spaces are intended to help students push their creative boundaries and explore their options as they prepare for a career in the competitive music industry. While that involves traditional performance and composition training, the university also emphasizes opportunities in areas such as music engineering, music therapy, entrepreneurship and more.
"There are so many opportunities for musicians but they don’t look the way they did 100 years ago," Shelton G. Berg, dean of the Frost School of Music, told Miami Inno.
For many, studying music in college may not seem like a practical option — especially if you need to land a consistent job after graduation. But the Frost School reports 91% of its graduates either find a full-time job or go to graduate school within six months of receiving their undergraduate degree.
There's even a path to a career in law: In addition to undergraduate degrees, the school offers a dual J.D. and master's in music degree in collaboration with University of Miami's School of Law.
"It's truly a school for professionals," said Rey Sanchez, associate dean for strategic initiatives and innovation. "A lot of people think of music only as the fine arts, but it's more a professional vocation. We're more like architects."
The Frost School has raised more than $36 million to date to support the construction and ongoing development of the Knight Center for Music Innovation. The centerpiece of the building is the Newman Recital Hall, a 200-seat performance theater with state-of-the-art acoustics. The stage is positioned in front of a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooks a lake on the university campus.
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And you don't necessarily have to buy a ticket to see a concert. The recital hall uses Windowcast technology to broadcast live performances on windows that face a nearby outdoor plaza, allowing anyone outside to enjoy it.
The Hormel Innovation Stage is more experimental in nature. Sanchez said it will be used to combine real and digital performances by using holograms and virtual reality technology. The would make it possible for two people to perform together, even if they are not in the same location.
"The space is like a playground," he added.
The new Knight Center for Music Innovation is a fitting addition to the university's nearly 100-year-old music education program. As one of the earliest colleges to offer programs like music therapy and studio production, it has always been a leader in the music education field, UM President Julio Frenk said in a statement.
"The Frost School of Music is a distinctive and distinguished center of excellence... [with] an unwavering focus on shaping the future of music," he added.
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