Holy Cross is home to a number of arts facilities that support and foster the creative endeavors of our students and faculty, as well as the many artists, musicians and other creative professionals that visit our campus. Facilities and venues include impressive performance and gallery spaces, in addition to several locations for classes, rehearsals, studying, and creating.
With sweeping views of Worcester and the Blackstone Valley, the Performance Studio in the Prior Performing Arts Center is used for dance and music classes, rehearsals, and performance and special events.
The 200-seat studio theater in the Prior Performing Arts Center is a fully flexible performance space, inviting artistic experimentation by students, faculty, and visiting artists alike. Configurations include a 80- or 160-seat proscenium option, a three-quarter thrust, or seats in the round.
The newly renovated Brooks Concert Hall is the main venue at Holy Cross for concerts and recitals performed by the Holy Cross Chamber Players, faculty, students, and several student performance organizations. With seating for 184, it has superb acoustics and rivals performance halls of much larger institutions. It is adorned by large stained-glass windows and features two concert grand pianos, as well as a Balinese Gamelan.
The Brooks Recording Studio is equipped with a sound isolation booth, professional software and hardware, both analog and digital, and a wide selection of microphones designed for audio recording, engineering, and mastering.
Established in 1983, the Cantor Art Gallery is an approximately 1,800 square foot exhibit space located in the Prior Performing Arts Center, Holy Cross’ newly opened hub for academic and artistic innovation. The climate and temperature-controlled gallery space presents five or six original and loan exhibitions every year, comprised of multi-disciplinary contemporary and historically significant exhibitions.
Costumes for productions are designed and built in our costume shop, located in the Prior Performing Arts Center.
The Dance Studio in O’Kane Hall 28 is host to a range of dance classes, fitted with a sprung floor to provide dancers with a safe surface that will ease wear and tear on the body. The subfloor is covered by a gray Harlequin Tempo vinyl dance floor covering.
The Fenwick Music Library holds more than 25,000 sound recordings; 10,000 books; 11,000 music scores; and 1,000 videos. The library also has six music workstations with commercial audio streaming services for unlimited, on-demand access to every genre of music. Specific course materials (books, scores, recordings and videos) are available on reserve at the circulation desk.
The Luth Concert Hall, located in the Prior Performing Arts Center, is a 400-seat multipurpose proscenium theater is the College’s principal venue for music, musical theater and dance performances. Its unique design creates an intimate dynamic between audience and performer, even as performers enjoy an unusually expansive stage. In concert configuration, the stage is framed by a shell of sustainably sourced Makore wood; in theatrical configuration, the shell can be removed, theatrical drapes hung and additional flooring surfaces laid as necessary.
The Brooks Computer Music Lab contains 12 digital audio workstations (DAWs) furnished with an array of professional and cutting-edge software (Pro Tools, Logic, Max/MSP, Audacity, Arduino, Csound, Photoshop Elements) for audio and video editing, arranging, mixing, and mastering.
The Millard Art Center, which consists of two buildings totaling approximately 12,000 square feet, houses both shared and private studio spaces for painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, and drawing. In addition to several areas where student artwork is displayed, Millard also includes the state-of-the-art Millard Media Lab, which is designed to foster and support creative work in digital imaging; an Equipment Library, where the students can access and loan art equipment; a darkroom; and facilities for welding, woodwork, and ceramics.
With an open floor area roughly 32 feet by 35 feet, the Pit in O'Kane Hall is used for acting, design and directing classes, as well as guest artist performances. Equipped with a lighting control system, the space is a flexible class and performance venue.
Our new performing arts center will be the central hub for shared programming across the arts disciplines, featuring a proscenium theatre for music, dance, and stage productions as well as additional performance spaces.
The Foley Scene Shop located in the Prior Performing Arts Center is visible to visitors, showcasing traditionally behind-the-scenes labor and expertise. It serves as a working laboratory but also as a classroom where students can learn the latest technologies.
Studio 481 in O'Kane Hall is used as a secondary dance studio for a variety of classes and a large rehearsal hall.