1995 Cooper Music Center opened.
The new $7.9 million dollar Cooper Music Center opened with a gala concert featuring the San Diego Chamber Orchestra on Thurs., Nov. 16 and was dedicated at a special ceremony on Fri., Nov. 17. The 40,000 square foot building will serve as a center for musical activities of all kinds-instruction, performance, education and entertainment. The opening of the Cooper Music Center also brings the college closer to the fulfillment of the centennial campus master plan scheduled to be completed by 2002.
The Cooper Music Center is located on the east side of Caf Lane facing the Pacific, where Cabrillo Hall was located. Cabrillo was moved to the east side of Peppertree Lane in 1994 and now houses the communication studies department and student yearbook and newspaper offices.
The Cooper Music Center is a state-of-the-art facility in every way and will allow PLNC to position itself as one of the finest music programs on a small college campus in America. The construction of the facility was made possible because of two generous gifts; one from the estate of Frank and Gladys Cooper and the other from Dr. Chester C. and Alice Crill.
Frank and Gladys Cooper first became acquainted with Pasadena College in 1911 when they hired a few students from the college to help run their feed and fuel business. In 1912, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper joined the Mary Street Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena and four years later began to serve as song evangelists, traveling and participating in revival meetings throughout California.
While continuing their evangelistic work, the Coopers began a cattle ranching business in the Central California Valley in 1919. Eventually, they acquired and developed hundreds of acres of ranch property and began breeding Hereford cattle in 1931. The couple's expert knowledge and management led to the development of a highly-valued thoroughbred strain of Hereford breeding stock. After Mr. Cooper's death, Mrs. Cooper began showing her prized cattle in California State Fairs, eventually establishing herself as the foremost woman breeder in the Hereford Association on the West Coast. From the earliest days of their lives together, the Coopers dedicated themselves to the work of the Lord and to faithful stewardship of any resources that came into their possession. The desire of Frank and Gladys Cooper to assist in the training of Christian musicians as they share the Good News will be realized through this generous gift to PLNC.
The centerpiece of the Cooper Music Center, and what San Diego Chamber Orchestra conductor, Donald Barra, called the finest concert venue in the city, is the Chester C. Crill Performance Hall-a 400-seat auditorium consisting of a full stage, support area and orchestra pit. The Crill Performance Hall was made possible through a generous gift from the late Dr. Chester C. Crill and his wife, Alice. Dr. Crill served as chair of the college's fine arts department for almost 30 years.
Dr. Crill joined the faculty in 1947 as chair of the division of fine arts after having served at Roberts Wesleyan College and Bethany Peniel College. He organized the A Capella Choir (now the Concert Choir) and directed it for 27 years, and conducted 25 performances of Handel's Messiah with Choral Union. Dr. Crill served as minister of music at Bethany First Church of the Nazarene and at Bresee Avenue Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena. Dr. Crill was a graduate of Greenville College and the University of Oklahoma. An honorary doctorate of music was bestowed upon him by Pasadena College in recognition of the stature he had attained as an educator and choral director. Named in honor of a man who gave his life to Christian higher education, the Crill Performance Hall will continue his commitment to quality in music education with performances for years to come.
From The Viewpoint Winter 1995
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