A generous benefactor and a jazz-musician-turned-Senator helped give Edmonton this fantastic new hall for musical performances.
The Francis Winspear Centre for Music is where Edmontonians are served up the finest of audio treats – from classical to jazz to spoken-word to rock – in the most elegant of surroundings. Able to seat up to 1,900 people, its award-winning acoustics and diverse musical programmes have made it one of the more popular of Edmonton's cultural highlights. But Edmonton wasn't always so fortunate when it came to musical venues.
For many years, the lack of a top-level performance space for the growing city was a sore point. It was just "too big and too good a city not to have a concert hall," said renowned Edmonton jazz musician Tommy Banks. When he became local Senator in 1980, he pushed for a new concert hall to be built. With the help of a donation of $6 million, the largest private donation for this purpose in Canadian history, from a prominent local businessman, Francis Winspear, Edmonton finally gained a concert hall in 1997. And Mr Winspear was immortalised as the new hall took his name.
The Winspear Centre is laid according to the classic 19th-century “shoe-box” plan, but subtly and cleverly dressed with a modern design ethic. The result is visually stunning. The addition of velour banners and specially designed curtains have ensured that it is acoustically stunning, too. Add in all of the 96 stops, 122 ranks and 6,551 pipes of the Davis Concert Organ, and you have a real treat for lovers of music. This magnificent musical instrument weighs 19 tonnes, is over three stories tall and took two years to complete.
The area that houses the Winspear Centre – around Sir Winston Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton – now has an even greater bounty of cultural attractions to enjoy. There is the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Milner Library and the Citadel Theatre. Taken together, this area is now known as the “Arts District” of the city. And the Winspear Centre stands proud as its shiniest of pearls.
