The building of the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts is now complete and the doors are open. All that is missing is you!

Join the Mount Royal Conservatory for the Opening Festival for the stunning new Bella Concert Hall from September 19 to October 3. Four gala concerts will launch the Bella as Calgary’s newest performing space, which will truly come alive when audiences are there to appreciate the incredible acoustics.

The Opening Festival performances are:

• Sept 19; 8 pm – Bella Voce Opera Gala featuring the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus with Sally Dibblee, Andrea Hill, Gordon Gietz and Brett Polegato
• Sept 27; 3 pm – Luminous Night, a 250-voice choral extravaganza with Mount Royal’s Artio and Kantorei choirs as well as Calgary’s best choral ensembles
• Sept 30; 7:30 pm – Yuja Wang, internationally acclaimed as the most important pianist of her generation and graduate of Mount Royal Conservatory’s Academy for Gifted Youth; playing the exceptional Hamburg Steinway she helped to select especially for the new concert ahll
• Oct 3; 8 pm – Yuja Wang & Friends, including renowned artists Ning Feng, violin, Teng Li, viola, and Tao Li, cello, in a concert of Brahms chamber music masterworks.

The Opening Festival sponsor is United Active Living. Tickets start at $60 and are available through MRU Tickets. Students, seniors and members of the MRU community are entitled to a discount.

Wednesday, August 26 marked the official VIP opening of MRU’s new Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts, with the dazzling Bella Concert Hall at its heart. Sixteen years in the making, under the leadership of former Conservatory Director Paul Dornian, this new facility is now the home of the Conservatory, which welcomes over 4000 students annually to learn music, speech arts and more.

Paul Dornian is now President and CEO of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and will be on hand for the opening festivities to see his dreams become reality.

“The Conservatory nurtures and optimizes artistic potential within each student,” says Program Director Elaine Danelesko. “We empower individuals to creatively express themselves through music and speech arts by offering instruction to every person, every age and every level of development. We support students to achieve their dreams, from recreational enrichment to pre-professional training.”

The spaces in the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts — comprising the TransAlta Pavilion, 43 soundproof studio rooms and several meeting/ensemble spaces — are also available for rent to the Calgary community and beyond for events and performances.

The Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts is named for the philanthropic Taylor family, who donated $21 million dollars for the building, The Bella Concert Hall is named in honour of the beloved matriarch of the Taylor family.