Dignitaries and donors celebrate groundbreaking of Laurier’s new Savvas Chamberlain Music Building

April 27, 2022
For Immediate Release

Waterloo – Wilfrid Laurier University celebrated a milestone in its Making Space for Music campaign on April 21 with the groundbreaking of the Faculty of Music’s new Savvas Chamberlain Music Building.

“It is thrilling to be celebrating the groundbreaking of Laurier’s Savvas Chamberlain Music Building,” said Laurier President and Vice-Chancellor Deborah MacLatchy. “This new and renovated space will be a 21st- century home for our exceptional music students, faculty and staff in which to learn, play and engage with our broader community. Thank you to our many donors and partners who have made today possible.”

From left to right: Cynthia Johnston Turner, dean of the Faculty of Music; Heather Carruthers; Lynda Hawton Kitamura, chair of Wilfrid Laurier University Board of Governors; Deborah MacLatchy, president and vice-chancellor; Robert Astley; Judith Astley; Christine Chamberlain; Savvas Chamberlain; Eileen Mercier, chancellor; Maria Harper

The new Savvas Chamberlain Music Building will expand upon Laurier’s Waterloo campus Faculty of Music building, transforming it into an improved space for teaching, practising, rehearsing and performing. The Savvas Chamberlain Music Building is named in recognition of a $4-million gift from the Savvas Chamberlain Family Foundation in January 2020. Construction on the project is set to begin on May 2, 2022.

“This groundbreaking is a happy event for all of us,” said Savvas Chamberlain, lead donor of the Making Space for Music campaign. “This project has been in the making for more than 11 years. Many people worked on this project and spent a lot of time in its planning. I believe it will bring so many people together. Music should be accessible to everyone in our society.”

The Savvas Chamberlain Music Building will create an exceptional new campus entranceway, as well as lobby and practice rooms that will allow increased opportunities for music students to develop their craft and for the public to enjoy and participate in Faculty of Music programming. Laurier’s former dean of the Faculty of Music, Glen Carruthers, who passed away in December 2020, was the driving force behind the vision for the renovation and expansion.

“It is an honour and a privilege to continue to lead what dean of music Glen Carruthers started,” said Cynthia Johnston Turner, Laurier’s dean of the Faculty of Music. “I am deeply inspired by his vision for a more inclusive, more excellent and more connecting space in which Laurier students can grow and develop and lead as musicians.”

Alternate venues for teaching, practise and performance will be provided during construction to ensure continuity of Faculty of Music education and events. Fundraising is ongoing to complete the project.

The April 21 groundbreaking event preceded the first in-person meeting of Laurier’s Board of Governors since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

See the latest architectural renderings of the new Savvas Chamberlain Music Building. Learn more about Making Space for Music at give.wlu.ca/music.