The Sound of Music

Tucked away on a hillside, across the Fonetyn Kill and behind a sparse thicket, peakes the spire of Skinner Hall. To many it is simply the Hall of Music, a gorgeous building with a Hogwarts-esque appeal. But beyond that, it is the architectural representation of a woman’s love for music and service to the world.

Designed by Charles Collens and George Sherman Dickinson, the detail in its construction is an ode to Ruth Isabel Skinner’s love for music, French culture and humanitarianism. Details like the weather vane wrought in the initials of venerated Music professor, George Coleman Gow, in its musical notation, are what contribute to the arcane charm of the building.

The building was given by William Skinner in 1932 in honor of his sister’s memory. Belle Skinner was a humanitarian and life-long music-lover. Skinner’s passions led her to write works on the destruction of France during World War I, and contribute avidly to the reconstruction of the ravaged eastern French countryside, particularly the ancient medieval town of Hattonchatel, to which she donated $1 million. In 1926, Skinner established Vassar’s first study-abroad scholarship of $10,000, to study history in France, which her brother later increased to $25,000. At her death, Skinner had amassed a remarkable collection of instruments from around the world, now housed at the Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments.

So in case you ever wondered – Skinner is more than just a pretty face.