Three years after its construction commenced, a new music venue is about to open its doors to the public for the first time.
The Desautels Concert Hall will hold its grand opening on Sept. 5. Its premiere concert will be headlined by country-folk singer William Prince and feature the likes of acclaimed opera sopranos Tracy Dahl and Andriana Chuchman, the Borealis Piano Trio and the Desautels Jazz Faculty Quintet. Dahl and Chuchman will be accompanied by pianist Laura Loewen.
All performers have a U of M connection. Dahl, Loewen and the members of the piano trio and jazz quintet are faculty members or instructors, while Prince and Chuchman are alumni.
Edward Jurkowski, dean of the Desautels faculty of music, said the concert will offer a “variety of different musical experiences.”
Prior to the completion of the new venue, the faculty’s concerts had been held in a variety of locations on campus and around the city, including in Eva Clare Hall at 65 Dafoe Road. While the recital hall at that location could accommodate only a small number of musicians — “a piano and a singer or perhaps a string quartet,” according to Jurkowski — the Desautels Concert Hall has enough space for “a full orchestra and choir.”
The roughly 200 students in the faculty will soon have access to the amenities of a “bona fide concert hall,” including a nine-foot grand piano and architectural design tailored to musical performance.
“The ability to perform on a concert grand [piano] in a state-of-the-art acoustic space […] [offers] the closest analogue a student is going to have to a real-world performance,” Jurkowski said. “To have that as part of their performance experience here will mean everything.”
He added that “one of the exciting things about this hall is not just for what it will be for the students and the university, but for the Winnipeg community.” The Desautels Concert Hall is the only “true state-of-the-art” performance venue in the south end. Jurkowski expects it to “dramatically change the dynamic of music-making” in Winnipeg and result in increased attention to the U of M’s arts scene.
Music enthusiasts who are unable to attend the grand opening will still have a series of shows to look forward to in the coming months. These include performances by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra on Sept. 25, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra with Tomson Highway on Oct. 19 and the vocal ensemble Dead of Winter on Oct. 20.
The Desautels Concert Hall grand opening takes place on Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. Tickets are now sold out but may become available based on purchased returns. See umanitoba.ca/music/desautels-concert-hall for more information.
