Aerial view of the Howard University Main Campus, located in northwest Washington, DC.
Lulu Vere Childers Hall (the College of Fine Arts) is circled in red on the north side of the Quad.
Founders Library is opposite, on the south side of the Quad with clocktower.
Campus & Department of Music Facilities
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Department of Music Facilities
Opened in 1961, Lulu Vere Childers Hall is a three-story brick and cinder block structure which forms the north side of the main quad (aka "The Yard") at the heart of the University's main campus. It is the exclusive home of Howard University's College of Fine Arts (the departments of Art, Theatre and Music).
The Department of Music occupies the third floor and basement of Childers Hall. Music facilities are for the exclusive use of validated students currently enrolled in Department of Music courses and ensembles, and students of Musical Theatre.
The third floor houses administrative offices of the Department of Music; a 112-seat recital hall furnished with a 7' Model B Steinway grand piano, a 9' Model D Steinway grand piano, and a single-manual harpsichord; 19 faculty teaching studios; a pipe organ studio; four classrooms for courses in music theory, history, education, and therapy; and a 43-seat, theater-style Lecture Hall.
In addition, two laboratories are located on the third floor:
- A Keyboard Laboratory containing eleven Yamaha PF85 and P105 electronic pianos for group instruction. When there are no classes scheduled in the Keyboard Lab, it is available for individual practice with headphones during normal business hours.
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A Jazz Studies Digital Music Laboratory comprising multiple work stations that include an iMac computer, keyboard/synthesizer, stereo speakers and headphones. In addition, the laboratory contains state-of-the-art, studio-quality recording and playback equipment.
The basement area of Childers Hall houses a band rehearsal room, band offices, band storage rooms, five teaching studios, and 23 practice rooms, most of which are equipped with an upright or grand piano, and one with a pipe organ. The practice rooms are of average size (10'x10'), and served by a central forced-air HVAC system. Sound abatement material is installed on the cinder block walls, and each room has an acoustical dropped tile ceiling. Enrolled students please read our Piano & Music Room Guidelines.
The Department of Music owns 31 grand pianos, 35 uprights, 18 electronic pianos, two harpsichords, and two pipe organs. Furthermore, the Department receives support from the area of University Services – Office of Choirs and Bands, which provides a wide range of musical instruments that all University students may be permitted to use.
Departmental recitals are presented in Childers Recital Hall on the third floor. In addition, the Department of Music may schedule larger ensemble performances, including Orchestra, Concert Band, Choir and Jazz Ensemble concerts, in 1,500-seat Cramton Auditorium or 300-seat Ira Aldridge Theater, both of which adjoin Childers Hall.