June 20, 2025 | Written by Lauren Ross
Before 1991, the Shepherd School of Music operated from basements, attics, and borrowed corners of campus. Practice rooms were scattered across seven buildings, even as far away as halfway to Montrose. But that all changed with the opening of Alice Pratt Brown Hall.
Designed by architect Ricardo Bofill, the building was envisioned by then-dean Michael Hammond as a kind of modern monastery—a place where students could devote themselves to music with the same focus and discipline as monks in search of spiritual harmony.
The 465-foot-long east facade, lined with teaching studios and practice rooms, mirrors a cloister. Inside, two interior courtyards, like secret gardens, offer moments of quiet between practice and performance. To relieve any feeling of being closed in, the building is full of windows, offering students serene views of the outside world as they practice.
But this building isn’t just poetic, it’s practical. From the start, Dean Hammond insisted on no “multipurpose” performance halls. Instead, each of the four major spaces – a 1,000-seat concert hall, an intimate recital hall, a black box theatre, and an organ hall – is acoustically tuned to its intended purpose. Double-walled construction, oversized air ducts, and even the placement of lighting units are all carefully designed to deliver exceptional sound isolation and a world-class listening experience.
With the building’s opening in 1991, Alice Pratt Brown Hall brought the Shepherd School under one roof for the first time—and gave it a home worthy of its artistry.
Design Team
Alice Pratt Brown Hall Architect / Contractor Design Team
Design Consultants, Ricardo Bofill, Taller de Arquitectura
Architects Planners, Kendall/Heaton Associates, Inc.
Contractor, Miner-Dederick Construction Corporation
Acoustical Consultant, R. Lawrence Kirkegaard & Associates, Inc.
Theatrical Consultant, S. Leonard Auerbach & Associates
Mechanical/Electrical Engineers, CHP & Associates, Consulting Engineers, Inc.
Structural Engineers, Haynes Whaley Associates, Inc.
Civil Engineers, Walter P. Moore & Associates, Inc.
Project Management, Gerald D. Hines Interests