Celebration and Dedication of Pratt Hall Set for March 2 and 3

Pratt's auditorium (seen here) has been named in honor of Dorothy Rooke McCulloch '50 and Norman E. McCulloch Jr. The McCullochs will attend the weekend festivities. Photo by Jose Ramon Garcia.

The newly renovated Pratt Hall will be formally dedicated and celebrated with activities ranging from tours, open rehearsals, and interactive master classes to faculty and student concerts March 2–3. Nearly 100 alumnae and guests are expected to participate in the celebration, the high note of which will be a Friday evening performance by lyric soprano Nancy J. Gustafson '78. The entire MHC community is encouraged to join in the festivities.

Friday's events will include a formal dedication ceremony and the Gustafson concert. Tickets, which are free but limited, are available through the music department on a first-come, first-served basis. Stop by the office in Pratt or email mgscanlo@mtholyoke.edu for tickets. Gustafson has sung on the world's greatest stages and with operatic stars such as Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. At MHC, she will perform a program that features the music of Canteloube, Donizetti, Puccini, Rossini, and Strauss.

On Saturday, the entire community is invited to attend master classes by music faculty and rehearsals. No reservations are required. “Beethoven vs. Beethoven: Why Do Historically Informed Performance?,” a class taught by Linda Laderach and Larry Schipull, will be offered at 10 am in Pratt's Warbeke Room. At the same time in room 109, Louise Litterick will discuss “Why Is Felix Mendelssohn More Famous Than His Sister Fanny?” At 11 am in room 109, choral director Catharine Melhorn will share her new video portrait of an unusual West African Methodist children's choir (singing Ghanaian highlife hymns and Handel's Messiah) in a class she calls “From Ghana with Love.” In room 211 at 11 am, Gary Steigerwalt and Dana Muller will discuss “From Debussy to Bolcom: Two-Piano Music Spanning the Twentieth Century.” Saturday afternoon will feature rehearsals by the Jazz Ensemble (room 109, 2 pm), Voices of Faith (Warbeke Room, 2 pm); the Chamber Singers (Warbeke Room, 3 pm); the English Handbell Choir (auditorium, 3 pm); and the V-8s (room 109, 3 pm). Saturday evening events will include a faculty concert at 8:30 pm and a student jazz concert at 10 pm.

Pratt's auditorium has been named in honor of Dorothy Rooke McCulloch '50 and Norman E. McCulloch Jr. The McCullochs will attend the weekend festivities, including the christening (with champagne and river water) of the crew team's new boat, which will be called The Rookie (McCulloch's nickname at MHC) in Dorothy McCulloch's honor. The christening will be held Saturday at 1:30 pm in the indoor track area of Kendall, and a reception will follow in Streeter lounge.

Pratt's music library has been named for Eleanor Pierce Stevens '25, who loves music and dance and has been dancing for more than fifty years. Although distance will prevent her from attending the celebration (she lives in Dallas, Texas), Stevens will certainly be present in spirit.