SUU Celebrates New Era for Music With Eccles Music Center Ribbon Cutting
Published: September 28, 2026 | Author: Kol Gibson | Read Time: 6 minutes
Southern Utah University (SUU) officially opened a new chapter for its music program on Thursday, Sept. 24, as university and community leaders gathered to celebrate the ribbon cutting of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Music Center.
The ceremony brought together those who helped envision, design, build, and support the new facility, as well as members of the SUU and Cedar City communities who will experience its impact for generations to come. The ribbon cutting was held on the southeast side of the 51,250-square-foot building, located at the northwest corner of 300 West and University Boulevard, within view of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts and the SUU Auditorium.
Speakers included Michael T. Schmidt, dean of the SUU College of Performing and Visual Arts (CPVA), Shauna Mendini, former interim provost and former CPVA dean; Joe Smith of Method Studio; Brian McBeth of Layton Construction; Lisa Eccles of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation; and SUU President Mindy Benson.
For Schmidt, the celebration was an opportunity to recognize how much has changed since the earliest days of music at SUU and how much has remained the same. During his remarks, Dean Schmidt referenced an SUU 1932 yearbook from what was then the Branch Agricultural College, which quoted former faculty member Roy L. Halversen: “The philosophy of the music department has been, and still is, to produce the greatest works of music, and to provide opportunities for students and community members to combine efforts in such productions.”
More than 90 years later, Schmidt noted, those words still describe the purpose of music at SUU. The new Eccles Music Center gives that philosophy a home designed for the Music program of today and the possibilities of tomorrow.
At the heart of the new facility is the 510-seat Okerlund Concert Hall (named for Ann O. Leavitt), the first on-campus venue in the history of the music program specifically designed to accommodate the unique acoustic needs of its large ensembles. The hall includes a choir loft, balcony and box seats, creating an intimate and immersive setting for performers and audiences alike.
The building also includes rehearsal and instructional spaces, a piano lab, a computer lab, specialized percussion studio, and a comprehensive Commercial Music and Music Technology suite. The Gail and Jane Bradshaw Family Recital Hall will serve both as a performance space and a rehearsal space for the university’s choral ensembles.
“This building gives them room to grow and room to imagine what comes next,” President Mindy Benson said during the ceremony. “And that is what I find most exciting. We are building for a future we cannot fully see.”
Benson noted that when the university’s previous music building opened nearly six decades ago, it was designed for 60 music majors and two academic programs. Today, SUU has more than five times that number of music students and 11 nationally accredited music programs, making it one of the largest music programs among Utah’s public universities.
The Eccles Music Center is the result of hours of planning, advocacy and generosity from university, taste, and community partners. Former Provost Mendini reflected on the history of the building’s site, pointing to two features that connect the new facility to the community’s past: a longtime landmark tree at the building’s east entrance and a stained glass window at the west entrance that once graced the 2nd/8th Ward meetinghouse at 200 West and 200 South.
“Both entrances hold a connection, welcoming our campus and our community into a building now named the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Music Center,” Mendini said. “A name that we are proud and honored to have. A name that, like this old tree, has deep roots in enriching the quality of life throughout the entire state of Utah.”
Mendini also recognized the work of Utah Sen. Evan Vickers, Sen. Ken Ipson, Rep. Rex Shipp, and former SUU government liaison Donna Law, as well as President Benson’s longstanding advocacy for the project.
For the project’s design team, creating a building that felt at home in Cedar City was just as important as creating a building that functioned as a world-class music facility.
“From the beginning, we wanted this building to belong to Cedar City and to southern Utah,” said Joe Smith of Method Studio, the project’s architectural firm. “We looked to the remarkable landscapes surrounding this community, particularly to Cedar Breaks.”
Rather than literally replicating the landscape, Smith said the design draws from its layers, textures, shadows, warm colors and powerful forms. Music provided another source of inspiration, influencing the building through ideas of rhythm, movement, harmony, and contrast.
“I think about it as more than a building, but more as an instrument in and of itself,” Smith said. “An instrument does not create music, but it creates the conditions that allow a musician to express something. We hope this building will be the same.”
Making those conditions possible required the work of hundreds of people behind the scenes. Brian McBeth of Layton Construction said the project represents approximately 175,000 hours of labor by trade partners who helped bring the music center to life, which equates to roughly 84 years of working 40-hour weeks, if it had been just one person.
“Hands down, this is the best concert hall that we have here in the state of Utah,” said McBeth. “Every detail was designed to enhance the music, showcase the performers, and create an unforgettable experience for every person in the audience. None of this would have been possible without our talented trade partners.”
For the Eccles family, supporting the new music center was an opportunity to invest in a tradition that has been part of Cedar City and SUU for generations. Lisa Eccles of the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation spoke about her family’s longstanding connection to the community and its pride in SUU’s tradition of excellence in the arts.
“For nearly 60 years, SUU music students and faculty have accomplished incredible things, earning state, regional and national recognition in both performance and music education,” Eccles said. “And I would add, enriching the community in so many artistic and creative ways.
The new music center, she said, represents the next chapter in that story.
“This state-of-the-art building will give ample space to study, rehearse, and perform,” Eccles said. “This will benefit the campus and community for generations to come, especially for a school so dedicated to the arts.”
As the ribbon was cut on Thursday afternoon, the building’s purpose shifted from something imagined on paper to a place that could finally be filled with music. As Lisa Eccles’ father Spence would say, “The best is still yet to come.”
More information about the Eccles Music Center and its facilities is available through the SUU Music Department at www.suu.edu/pva/music/facilities.html.
About SUU's College of Performing and Visual Arts
The College of Performing and Visual Arts (CPVA) at Southern Utah University comprises 41 academic programs, including liberal arts (BA/BS) and professional (BFA, BM, BMEd) degrees in art, design, dance, filmmaking, music, and theatre. It includes graduate programs in the fields of arts administration (MFA, MA), music education (MME), and music technology (MM). More than 60 full-time faculty and staff are engaged in teaching and mentoring over 900 majors in the College. CPVA presents over 100 performances, lectures, presentations, and exhibitions each year, which are complemented by the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA) and Shakespeare Studies at SUU, and is affiliated with the Tony award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival (USF). Southern Utah University is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD), National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD), National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST), making SUU the first public university in the state of Utah to be accredited by all four associations. For more information about the College of Performing and Visual Arts, visit www.suu.edu/pva.Contact Information
Kol Gibson
435-865-8667
kolgibson@suu.edu