Roy Thomson Hall
Arthur Erickson's glass-drum concert hall of 1982, home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Roy Thomson Hall is Toronto's principal symphonic concert hall and the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. It opened on 13 September 1982 as New Massey Hall, replacing the orchestra's cramped Victorian home a few streets away, and was renamed for the newspaper proprietor Roy Thomson after a gift from his family. The 2,630-seat auditorium is arranged in the round, with the platform near the centre and seating wrapped around it in shallow tiers.
The building is one of Arthur Erickson's best-known works: a low, drum-shaped volume beneath a sloping curtain wall of mirrored glass, set on a raised plaza next to David Pecaut Square. Acoustic complaints led to a substantial refit in 2002 by Bob Essert and Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg, which replaced the movable canopy and lined the interior in wood. Besides orchestral concerts the hall hosts recitals, film scores played live, spoken-word events and Toronto International Film Festival galas each September.
Highlights
- Mirrored curtain wall and circular plan by Arthur Erickson
- In-the-round auditorium seating about 2,630
- Home concerts of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
- Gabriel Kney pipe organ above the stage
