By ELIZABETH LIU
Staff Writer
A dedication ceremony for the new Studio G3 will take place Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 at 4 p.m. in the William Randolph Hearst Communications Building. Opening remarks will be delivered by President Carolyn Stefanco, both members of the Board of Trustees, music faculty. The student body and the Albany community are welcome.
There will be an event on campus to celebrate recent renovations made to the former Jack’s Place. The venue’s functionality has remained the same, however there have been a few renovations made to venue.
“The new setup can handle three types of audio needs, the first and foremost being for performances, practice, and class lecture for academics. There’s now a drop down projector, a projector, an upgraded sound system that can be configured from the stage, as well as a new lights system and a camera setup for live streaming on various social media platforms for live shows,” Senior Music Industry student, Brittney Glogowski said.
The individual who funded the renovations in Studio G3 was Board of Trustee member George R. Hearst, according to President Stefanco. The event is projected to be a night of speeches, gratitude, and musical performances by faculty members. President of the Rose Record Label Group, Belinda Ligotino, a current Music Industry student, is making the welcoming remarks for the attendees. The event itself is free and open to the public. A registration with the link can be found on The College of Saint Rose’s school website.
Studio G3 is one of the most integral aspects of The College of Saint Rose’s Music Industry program. Touring bands such as The Front Bottoms and the Stealing Oceans have performed here in the past. The Department of Communications and the Music Industry programs have held joint events in the combined concert and classroom space. It is one of the most central locations of the Music Industry department here at The College of Saint Rose.
The venue is also a great resource for music students on campus to gain some practical experience in their field with event organizing and more often than none, Music Industry students can be seen running the behind scene aspects of events and shows.
The College of Saint Rose’s first name for the public space was named Jack’s Place. Up until 2018, this was the name for the venue. Events have already taken place in Studio G3 in Fall of 2018, such as faculty concerts and senior playbacks last semester.
The name from Jack’s Place comes from the Jack Fragomeni, who passed away of a heart attack in the middle of a semester while he was teaching at the college. The space was named in honor of his memory.
Various Music Industry clubs, ensembles, classes, faculty members, and students utilized the space for rehearsals and meetings. Academic Advisement Day for the Music Industry Students and Faculty also takes place in this space as well. The Rose Record Label Group meets in the space bi-weekly.
“The space is such an improvement. I have had rehearsal in there and meetings for Rose Record Label Songwriters already. It’s a great classroom as a well as performance space. Now when I need to practice for convocation, I have a quality place to test out the amplified sound with a band. I think the biggest improvement is that the space is more user friendly in my opinion so it’s easier for people to practice in. For artist development the sound quality is just incredible, much better than before so they are getting to practice and eventually perform in a really excellent space. In general it’s just been a huge upgrade,” Music Industry Major Megan Osman said.
Students can easily book the space for rehearsal time for classes such as Music Convocation, Artist Management, or if they just need a space for amplified events. The Music Industry Student Association often books the space for performances and gigs. Other students had thoughts to report on the recent renovations to Studio G3.
“I think the renovations are great! They’ll definitely benefit not only the music industry community, but the whole school too,” said Junior Music Industry major Soobin Park, who is on the Thorn Productions Department of the Label.
“It really elevates the level of learning that’s going on in the Music Industry Department. The live sound aspect is something that has been lacking in our program so this will be perfect for us.”
