Matthew Greene
palmettoreport@gmail.com

(Rock Hill, S.C.) — After several years of renovations, Winthrop University has returned to hosting concerts inside Byrnes Auditorium, the big building at the main entrance of the campus. 

One of the next concerts to be held at the venue is a performance by Misty Boyce and Steve Goold in the Byrnes Recital Hall on April 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10.

Byrnes closed in 2018 to undergo renovations and replace the building’s roof, but the length of time the auditorium was out of use was unexpected. A fire later in the building and the resulting litigation also slowed the project.

“It needed to become ADA-compliant. It needed to have, for instance, an elevator. It did not have an elevator. It did not…there were thirty five seats. There were not enough restrooms for that many seats,” said Dr. Lorrie Crochet, the chair of the Department of Music.

Barnes received a grand reopening back in April 2025 and already a number of events have been held in the 3,000 seat venue.

A number of students said they were glad to see a variety of performances, planned by the Music Department, return to Byrnes last fall.

“I look at the cultural event calendar and I was looking at catching up on my cultural events and I was it was free and I saw there was music and it sounded like a very good time,” said Thomas McBride, a student who attended a Brass Night concert on Oct 2 last year.

“The performances were really good. It was really well made. There was some good pieces and all of the performances were really talented. It was really good,” said Marques Hodgeson, another student who attended the Brass Night.

Officials in the Department of Music say they hope to bring in more musicians to perform in the auditorium, including performers from outside the university.

Crochet says that even though nothing is confirmed, behind the scenes, ideas for future performances range from the Charlotte Symphony to the U.S. military bands.

* Editor’s note: The story was originally filed during the fall 2025 semester, but has been updated to include more recent information.