RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lycoming College dedicated the Trachte Music Center in Williamsport on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. The 14,000 square foot building at the corner of Basin and East Fourth St. houses classroom, practice rooms, recital space and offices.

Music education and study has been a two-century-old tradition at Lycoming College.

During the formal dedication of the Trachte Music Center on Friday, administrators and faculty reminisced on the history of music at the private liberal arts institution of higher learning and how the new facility is envisioned to meet or exceed expectations.

“This beautiful new building will provide the space and quality environment for the (music) program and its students for many decades in the future, said Philip Sprunger, provost and dean of the faculty.

Sprunger noted many in the audience as being familiar with the past musical experiences of the college.

He highlighted the three pillars of the early music department: Walter McIver, the director of the Lycoming College Choir from 1946 to 1976; Fred Thayer, the director of the Lycoming College Choir from 1976 to 2013; and Mary Landon Russell, who taught piano from 1936 to the late 1990s.

Their storied careers helped launch many of the music majors toward his or her life ambition and their combined impact on the students in the ensemble programs was immense.

The history of music at the college stretches back to the early Dickinson Seminary years in 1848 and further back still to the Williamsport Academy era in 1812.

In 1848, music was added as a curriculum along with piano instruction. Music was a component to broader education in the early Seminary years.

During these years, students were focused largely on preparatory studies such as mathematics, rhetoric, Greek and the like. Around 20 years later, there were almost 150 students involved in studying instrumental music, and the need for a larger space emerged.

In the late 19th century, under the leadership of President Edward J. Gray, the study of art and music attracted so many students that the Seminary built a new building, Bradley Hall, dedicated to these two fields.

The Seminary continued to thrive in the early 20th century and expanded in the 1920s under the leadership of President John W. Long. In 1929, it became the Williamsport Dickinson Seminary and Junior College, the first private junior college in Pennsylvania. The junior college curriculum formalized the advanced study available at the Seminary, the majority of which was in the liberal arts and sciences.

Music and arts moved out of the Bradley Hall and into a Fine Arts building on the North End of the main quad.

When that was worn out and demolished, music landed in the lower level of Clarke Chapel.

“Many in the audience have walked, sung, practiced and played in that building,” Sprunger said.

On Friday, music education officially exited Clarke Chapel and moved the music program into the Trachte Music Center.

“This building will stand tall for many years, and with two centuries of music in our curriculum, I think that we could be certain that music in the Trachte Music Center will continue to flourish and be valued as a central component of a Lycoming College education for many years to come,” Sprunger said.

More connection to community at large and continued student growth and development

“The building demonstrates our commitment to the liberal arts and serves as a symbol of the continued growth to this institution,” said Rachel Hickoff-Cresko, associate professor of education and faculty chair.

“It is also an additional path for connection with the greater Williamsport community,” she said.

Music is entwined in people’s lives, whether it’s a soundtrack or an instrument played.

“We’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by music,” she said.

“This beautiful building affirms that Lycoming College recognizes and celebrates the role of music in a liberal arts education,” Hickoff-Cresko said.

Students that are involved in music gain analytical skills while developing creative expression.

“These experiences across all the disciplines encourage our students to develop as well-rounded individuals,” Hickoff-Cresko said.