The transformative power of music

Lycoming College has a rich history of music, not just as an academic major or minor, but also as a beloved co-curricular activity for students studying a myriad of academic programs. Every year, more than 200 students engage in music making on campus through their participation in choir, band, orchestra, chamber groups, small ensembles, private lessons, and recitals.

Exterior view of the new music facility

The College constructed a new music facility on the southeast corner of campus that connects to the Mary Lindsay Welch Honors Hall. This facility represents the first significant capital investment in the music program in more than 75 years. The 14,000 square foot building, which opened in the fall of 2022, houses a signature rehearsal and recital space, classrooms, soundproof practice rooms, and offices for music faculty. While Clarke Chapel will no longer house the music program, it will remain one of the campus’s most iconic performance, worship, and community spaces.

The three lead donors of Lycoming College’s new music building announced they have named the facility the Trachte Music Center in honor of the College’s 15th and current president, Kent C. Trachte, Ph.D., and his spouse Sharon R. Trachte, Ph.D., for the Trachtes' leadership, contributions to the College and community, and love and appreciation for music. A formal dedicaton of the Trachte Music Center was held on October 21, 2022. Read more and view photos from the dedication.

Through the generosity of donors who believe in the transformative power of music, both as an academic discipline and performing art, Lycoming College is able to provide members of its campus and the greater Williamsport community with this new state-of-the-art facility, ensuring the gift of music lives on for generations to come.

Exterior view of the new music facility

Support the Trachte Music Center

This $8.5 million project is funded through donations. Gifts of $5,000 or more are recognized on a permanent plaque in the Trachte Music Center. 

I would like to support the Trachte Music Center:

Make a Gift

Naming Opportunities

  • $2,000,000 — Music Facility Naming Gift (secured)
  • $1,000,000 — Rehearsal Hall (secured)
  • $1,000,000 — Plaza (secured)
  • $500,000 — Atrium (secured)
  • $250,000 — Music Library & Resource Room (secured)
  • $250,000 — Mezzanine (secured)
  • $150,000 — Classroom (secured)
  • $50,000 — Large Practice Rooms (5) (4 secured)
  • $35,000 — Small Practice Rooms (5) (3 secured)

Naming opportunities start at $35,000. If you are interested in supporting a named space within the Trachte Music Center, please contact Robb Dietrich, Senior Director of Major & Planned Gifts, at dietrich@lycoming.edu or 570-321-4401.

Rehearsal Hall Rendering

 

Outside Rehearsal Hall, Second Floor

News

Sun-Gazette: Lycoming College’s Trachte Music Center dedicated

" 'This magnificent facility will stand here and generations and generations of Lycoming College, students, faculty, alumni and members of the community will make music.' With those promising words, Kent C. Trachte, 15th and current Lycoming College president, humbly expressed his gratitude at the formal dedication ceremony Friday night of the new music center named in his honor on the campus of Lycoming College in Williamsport."

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Sun-Gazette: Trachte Music Center fits with Lycoming College’s emphasis on music

"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."

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View of the Music Facility Atrium