Montréal, May 28th, 2009 – Place
des Arts enthusiastically welcomes the start of work on the new
concert hall dedicated to classical music on its site.
L’Adresse
symphonique will enhance the largest performing arts
centre in Canada, located at the heart of the Quartier des
spectacles in Montréal. With its 2,000 seats added to those
in Place des Arts’ current five performance halls, this new
hall will boost the total capacity to 8,000 seats. Each year, close
to one million spectators attend shows in Place des Arts’
performance halls, while over three million festival-goers frequent
its Esplanade.
“A wave of optimism is washing over Montréal and
the Quartier des spectacles. We are delighted to see that the Place
des Arts plaza will be complete and that Place des Arts’
artistic programming will be enriched,” stated Jean Laurin,
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Place des Arts.
The addition of a hall specializing in classical music was
initially part of the plans for Place des Arts as its builders
conceived of it 45 years ago. As the project is a private-public
partnership, L’Adresse symphonique will be realized
in close collaboration with the Société de la Place
des Arts de Montréal, ensuring that it will be harmoniously
incorporated into the existing architectural whole, and linked to
public spaces, the metro, and services offered by Place des Arts.
The concert hall will be constructed on a portion of land that
Place des Arts has made over to the government, located on the
corner of de Maisonneuve Boulevard and Saint-Urbain Street.
“Creating a structure of this scale in a restricted
space was a major challenge for the designers. The selected project
completes the plaza’s architectural whole. The
architects’ work is to be commended regarding the interior of
the hall, which will delight both musicians and music
lovers,” added Jean Laurin. “As for the acoustic
qualities of the hall, Place des Arts believes that Artec, a firm
that has worked on the design of many acoustically renowned concert
halls around the world, will successfully bring its unique
expertise in this field to Montréal.”
Dedicated exclusively to music, the new concert hall will
offer the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) greater
availability for its concert programming, as well as more spacious
service areas for musicians. Place des Arts will be in charge of
programming in the new hall during time slots not occupied by
concerts programmed by the OSM. In this way, Place des Arts and the
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal will continue their
long-standing, successful partnership as they have for over 45
years now.
“When the OSM leaves Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in
September 2011, after having presented 48 concert seasons in the
hall, Place des Arts will make use of the space to offer even more
diverse programming and increase performance offerings in
Montréal. Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, which remains one of the
finest and most prestigious multidisciplinary halls in the country,
will thereby satisfy a new pool of spectators,” adds Jean
Laurin.
Construction work is also getting underway this spring in
Place des Arts, with the transformation of the Hall des Pas perdus
concourse into the Grand Foyer culturel, an indoor public space
that will be busy both day and night, becoming another major
cultural destination at the heart of the Quartier des spectacles.
Designed in keeping with the arrival of the new concert hall, this
space will be a hub leading to all of Place des Arts’ halls,
and will allow spectators to immerse themselves in an even more
pleasant atmosphere.
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Source:
Claude-Sylvie Lemery, Advisor
Public Relations and Development Department
Société de la Place des Arts de
Montréal
T: 514-285-4390
