Presser Hall

Berea’s five-story Presser Music Building is one of the finest music facilities of any small college, after undergoing a 9 million dollar renovation in 2002-2003. Presser Hall was built in 1931. This building houses offices of the Music Department and Music Library as well as classrooms, several individual Music Laboratories. It includes a 240-seat acoustically-superior recital hall with a large tracker organ and superior digital recording equipment, large and small ensemble rehearsal rooms, modern computer and piano laboratories, ensemble libraries and offices, practice rooms (many with grand pianos), teaching studios, multi-media classrooms, seminar rooms, and a student lounge. The building is arranged functionally, with the fourth floor being devoted to classrooms and to piano studios; the third floor to administrative offices, piano lab, and Gray Auditorium seating 500 people; the second floor to vocal and instrumental teaching studios and classrooms; the upper bottom floor to practice rooms; and the lower bottom floor to ensemble rehearsal rooms and instrument storage. The south-facing back of the building features a 5-story glass atrium and glass-enclosed staircase offering spectacular views of the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains.