Concept
Place des Arts is a major performing arts centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and the largest cultural and artistic complex in Canada. Home to the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Métropolitain, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and the Opéra de Montréal, the complex is situated between Saint Catherine and de Maisonneuve Streets, and Saint-Urbain and Jeanne-Mance streets, in an area now known as the Quartier des spectacles in the borough of Ville-Marie. Place des Arts was an initiative of Mayor Jean Drapeau, a noted lover of opera, as part of a project to expand the downtown core eastward from the concentration of business and financial activity in the centre-west part of downtown. The Corporation George-Étienne-Cartier, named in honour of George-Étienne Cartier, a Father of Confederation and opera lover, was set up to build it, and the first part of the complex (including the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier) was inaugurated on September 21, 1963. The other theatres were added progressively. The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal was added to the complex on May 28, 1992, and in 2009, construction began on a new concert hall for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. The 1,900-seat facility opened in 2011 at the cost of C34.2 million to remodel the esplanade into a large outdoor stage that will host big events year round. Work is to be complete in 2018. The Place des Arts includes six halls of various sizes: Montreal Symphony House Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier Théâtre Maisonneuve Théâtre Jean-Duceppe Studio-théâtre Cinquième salle This wealth of theatres permits the staging of opera, symphony, ballet and other dance, chamber music, choral music, theatre, film presentation, and various other presentations and ceremonies. In addition to the theatres, the complex hosts the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, a museum of contemporary art, as well as rehearsal halls, shops, services, and a large, popular esplanade decorated with original fountains and water cascades.
