News

Lee’s newest performance venue, Pangle Hall, will be dedicated with a special “music showcase” event Tuesday, Oct. 28. The public is invited to the free concert, a one-hour presentation of musical highlights from Lee’s past, present and future.

“We want to welcome all our friends to come out and join us for this festive occasion,” said Dr. Paul Conn, Lee president. “It will be a wonderful time for everyone to hear some entertaining music and see how we have refreshed and remodeled this familiar Cleveland landmark.”

Guests can anticipate appearances from Phil Stacey of American Idol season 6, the international champion barbershop quartet Four Voices, and Voices of Lee with special return of two members of the NBC SingOff group of 2009.

A smaller eighty-voice version of the Lee Festival Choir will sing selections from the 2013 Presidential Inauguration repertoire. The program will also include music from a faculty jazz group led by Alan Wyatt, piano music by Lee’s chamber music star and faculty Gloria Chien, and a song by popular vocalist and faculty Andrea Dismukes.

Pangle Hall is the repurposed space formerly used as the main sanctuary for First Baptist Church of Cleveland. The new music venue is being named Pangle Hall in honor of Janie Pangle Jones, wife of Cleveland business leader Allan Jones. First Baptist vacated the property in 2010.

Cole Strong, who has supervised the transformation of the hall, says the interior of the space has been reduced to an audience capacity of 650 seats. “People who remember this as the old First Baptist sanctuary will feel right at home here,” Strong said. “We wanted to retain the traditional feeling and elegant interior design of the old sanctuary, while still updating and reshaping it for musical performance.”

The entire building is undergoing a transformation along with the development of the southern end of the Lee campus, beginning with the Communication Arts Building across Church Street. The new music venue is the second phase in this development, and will provide a new space for music and other types of performances, in addition to use by community groups.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the performance will begin at 7:00 p.m. Admission to this dedication event is free and open to the public. A dessert reception for everyone attending will follow in the Communication Arts atrium lobby.