New Linn-Mar performance hall a place for every student to ‘play at the highest level or give good effort’

MARION — Peyton Stoller — a Linn-Mar High School senior with aspirations of becoming a music educator or professional performer — finds the school’s new performance hall an “absolutely amazing” place to perform.

Stoller, 18, said he learned about the possibility of the performance hall his freshman year, but never imagined the $27 million project would be completed in time for him to perform there.

“I’m super thrilled to have such a huge space,” Stoller said after playing trumpet alongside other students on the new stage at an open house Wednesday. “Especially once the (concert) shell comes in, I know all three groups — band, orchestra and choir — they’re going to be amazing.”

Of the 2,200 students at Linn-Mar High School, 1,200 of them are enrolled in music classes and extracurricular music activities throughout the year. More than 100 students are involved in the district’s drama or thespian activities, performing and providing technical assistance.

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In the spring of 2024 when construction on the performance hall began, the district hosted more than 60 events in the high school auditorium and Little Theatre, the two available auditorium spaces at the time. This doesn’t include events from the district’s two middle schools and two intermediate schools, which were held in other buildings’ spaces like cafeterias.

The opening of the performance hall adds a third space at the high school for performances and gatherings and seats 1,200. The other two performing spaces — Little Theatre and auditorium — seat 300 and 800 patrons respectively.

The project was funded by Secure an Advanced Vision for Education, a one-cent statewide sales tax that can be spent on school infrastructure.

Linn-Mar High School Principal Jeffrey Gustason said before the performance hall opened, events were often standing room only, and they would hold multiple concerts in a single evening to accommodate all the students participating.

“It was a full house almost to the point it’s uncomfortable,” Gustason said.

Gustason said the energy in the room during the first performance held at the hall in December — when the district first took occupancy — felt similar to when the district completed its stadium in 2011.

“The first night we played a home football game in the new stadium, the energy of the place was amazing,” Gustason said. ”There were people who had been a part of the project — adults — who were crying. They’d been a part of trying to get that thing to happen for a long time. You could feel that same type of energy here during ‘Get the Spirit,’” Linn-Mar’s show choir holiday themed performance in December.

“What will this allow us to do — a school of 2,200 kids? It gives them the opportunity to be a part of — whether you are someone who wants to play at the highest level or gives good effort, there’s a place for them. That’s what our program is about. Participation and excellence,” Gustason said.

The performance hall also expands the number of seats available for people who need physical accommodations from two to 18, Gustason said.

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Kim Buelt, who retired from Linn-Mar High as associate principal, said the performance hall “definitely” lives up to the vision.

“This space has already made a great impact on our students since we received temporary occupancy back in December,” Buelt said.

Buelt said the “tremendous amount of talent, passion and creativity” at Linn-Mar “now has a new home.”

Stoller said Linn-Mar’s music educators and his peers have been “amazingly” supportive of his aspirations over his almost four years in high school.

After he graduates college, “my dream music education job is at Linn-Mar, definitely,” Stoller said.

He initially began playing trumpet in fifth grade, following in the footsteps of his dad, who also played trumpet. The instrument means “everything to me,” Stoller said.

“It became something that I fell in love with. It’s become something that I want to pursue for the rest of my life, whether that’s music education or being a music performer for trumpet or voice. It’s opened me up to more musical experiences, and it really was the first thing I found that I truly loved,” Stoller said.

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