After analyzing several possible locations, the new facility was placed adjacent to the University Playhouse and the Fine Arts building, thereby creating an arts corridor that brings music, theatre, and art together at the heart of the campus. The one-story building reinforces the traditional design aesthetic of the campus, paying homage to historic buildings across the quad in its use of brick and a defining pitch roof.

Inside, the Music Center includes a 7,594-gsf concert hall and 17,606 gsf of rehearsal, studio, practice, and support space. The 441-seat concert hall is used for recitals, small ensembles, and orchestra, band, and choral purposes. A separate rehearsal hall supplements the concert hall and serves as a warm-up space, an intimate recital venue, a teaching facility, and a green room.

The concert hall is acoustically designed for flexible performance needs. A combination of custom faceted-concrete walls and large folding panels dampens reverberations to one second in length for speech, or increases them to more than four seconds for cathedral resonance. Wood paneling provides a warm, inviting atmosphere. In addition, suspended pendant lights, overhead catwalks, and exposed ductwork create a vertically layered ceiling without diminishing the overall grandeur of the space.

A transparent lobby and gallery along the building's west side provide a prefunction space and establishes a visual connection with the rest of the campus. Acoustically isolated faculty teaching studios and practice rooms adorn the south end, bringing the entire full-time faculty together for the first time in the Music Department's history. An outdoor terrace on the building's north end offers an alternative class setting and an inviting location for informal musical performances.