On Monday, Jan. 14, the Messiah College community got its first peek at the nearly finished Calvin and Janet High Center for Worship and Performing Arts. The High Center is the hallmark project of the College’s Centennial Campaign—a fundraising effort that raised more than $46.2 million for the building as well as student-focused initiatives and scholarship endowments.

The High Center is open for classes and will host several public events this spring before the launch of the official inaugural cultural season in fall 2013.

“We are deeply grateful to the many alumni, parents and community friends who supported the Centennial Campaign,” said President Kim S. Phipps. “Their generosity ensures that Messiah continues to provide excellent facilities and competitive scholarship funding to make Messiah College an appealing, viable educational choice for students.”

The High Center contains a new recital hall, blackbox theatre, classroom and office spaces, a recording studio and an 825-seat performance venue—Parmer Hall—that is the public focal point of the building.

Watch a video of the opening of the High Center. Video courtesy of Sherri Hoffman.

See a photo album of pictures of the interior and exterior of the building. Photos courtesy of Robert Getty III `89.

Explore the main lobby, the instrumental rehearsal room and the public space between the High Foundation Recital Hall and Parmer Hall. Photos courtesy of Dan Custer `09.

As a toddler, Damian Savarino used to
harmonize to the jingles on television
commercials, an ability that his parents
understood to be special.
So his mom and dad signed him up for guitar lessons, his first official foray into music. He played several instruments before his parents, in his words, “forced” him to try out for school choir. Savarino says he was nervous about singing in the choir because he felt “more safe and secure to hide behind an instrument.”

Turns out that his best instrument was his voice, and it wouldn’t be long until he would own his own tuxedo for performances. (more…)

School of the Arts alumni showcase talent around the world

Perhaps a hidden gem of Messiah College is its School of the Arts.  It is there that aspiring actors, musicians, and artists hone their skills in creative and public expression. Graduates from the School of the Arts have gone on to be international performers and excel in instilling their artistic vision in the communities where they work and live in while creatively contributing to the larger, global artists’ community. Mipa Lee (’05), Efthymios Mavridis (’89), and Jesse Baxter (’02) are all alumni from the School of the Arts who work internationally.
(more…)