Lights and sounds spilled out of a Kent Street garage Oct. 11.
Inside were students in the School of Performing Arts at Holland College performing for the first time in their new rehearsal space.
Outside were fellow students, staff and dignitaries witnessing the grand opening of the garage.
SoPA students had awaited the chance to perform in the new space for months, said vocalist Jocelyn Reyome, whose impassioned Alicia Keys rendition closed out the ceremony.
“We were super anxious over the summer and we finally found out it was opening. We were jumping at the opportunity to perform.”
The original garage was built by the Duncan family, who owned the property for nearly a century. It required a full makeover, complete with new equipment and light and sound systems.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency provided $29,325 in funding for the project. Students from the college’s heritage retrofit carpentry program worked on the rebuild.
Performing arts students will make full use of the new facility, said Reyome, a Massachusetts native.
“It feels kick ass. A lot of other schools don’t have this opportunity to have such an up-to-date performing studio. We feel that we’re lucky and we definitely want to take advantage of it.”
Two of the program’s 11 ensembles performed during the opening with hits from Stevie Wonder and the Black Keys, among others.
Bahamian percussionist Josh Wright was impressed with the new space.
“The lights, even down to the sound, it’s perfect, absolutely perfect. (There are) things we can do in here and push ourselves a little bit further.”
Having another space to rehearse will help accommodate the more than 50 students in the program, said West Virginia guitarist Connor Mowery.
“It definitely opens things up. Now we have this nice, big extra practice space, so we have a lot more things going on at one time. Multiple ensembles can be practising all over campus at once.”
During his remarks, Charlottetown MP Sean Casey said he had “great admiration” for the performances on display.
“You can feel the creativity vibrating within these walls.”
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