Coming Soon to King Street West & Blue Jays Way

Email kingblue@greenlandcanada.ca for more information
For more information email:
kingblue@
greenland
canada.ca
Register Now for King Blue
King Blue: Who Could Ask For Anything More?

I Got Art & Culture

FOUR SEASONS CENTRE for the PERFORMING ARTS

By on

Four Seasons Centre for The Performing Arts

The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

145 Queen Street West

Concert Hall

One of the jewels in the crown of Toronto’s newest neighbourhoods, in the Entertainment District, is surely the Four Seasons Centre for the Peforming Arts. It is accessible by TTC from the Osgoode subway stop, and there is ample parking underneath the building. With its opulent glass exterior the building shines when it is lit up at night. The grand staircase with its treads, risers, and balustrades made of laminated structured glass cuts diagonally through the atrium, giving you a panoramic view of the Isadore and Rosalie Sharp City Room. Suspended bridges overlook this room and the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre providing space for mingling and listen to pre-performance chats.

Whether you choose to sit in the Grand Ring or on Ring 5, you are guaranteed excellent sight lines. The contemporary design shares many elements with a traditional opera house including the horseshoe-shaped auditorium, the 60-ft high ceiling above the stage, and the proscenium opening 52 ft wide by 32 ft high, with another 10’ rise for the curtain.

The Centre was purpose-built to meet the acoustic needs of The Canadian Opera Company (COC) and The National Ballet of Canada, which are all about spectacle. The large orchestra pit in front of the proscenium allows patrons full view of the musicians. And no matter where you sit, you will hear even the softest sounds with acoustics that truly are state-of-the-art. The entire auditorium and stage is set on a set of rubber pads supported by concrete and steel. This structurally isolates the facility from ground-borne vibrations caused by street traffic or from the subway underneath the building, and keeps them from being transferred into the building. Everything from the ventilation systems to the giant hole above the ceiling for smoke exhaust purposes had to be designed so that the auditorium is absolutely silent when it needs to be.

When it opened in June 2006, this is what then general director of the COC, the late Richard Bradshaw had to say, “It has been three decades since the Canadian Opera Company first set out to create an opera house for Toronto. The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is not only Canada’s first purpose-built opera house; it will be one of the most exciting destinations on the world stage, and a magnificent performance venue that will throw an even brighter spotlight on our talented Canadian artists.”

Six years later, Bradshaw has been proven right. This magnificent complex is truly a jewel in the crown of Toronto’s King West district. For a complete list of events go to the Centre’s calendar.

Whether you choose opera or ballet, be sure to head to one of the neighbourhood’s restaurants or bars to make your visit to this bustling area a memorable one, and you may even choose to stay!