In Saturday’s (10/24) Toronto Star, Christopher Hume writes, “If the new Koerner Hall sounds as good as it looks, it will be the best concert venue in Toronto, hands down. The facility, which opened two weeks ago at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Bloor St. complex, is one of the best things to happen to Toronto architecture in some time. The designer, Marianne McKenna of KPMB, one of the city’s most accomplished practices, has pulled off a triumph. … By the time the dust finally settled this month, the conservatory had acquired a 1,135-seat hall as well as practice studios, a cafe and superb public spaces that take full advantage of the architectural play between old and new. … Organized in the traditional shoebox configuration, it has three balconies, two devoted to seating, the third to a technical catwalk. Finished mostly in oak, the room has none of that washed-out Ikea look that makes some concert venues seem so precious. … Best of all, perhaps, the place imparts a feeling of intimacy and closeness.”
Posted October 27, 2009
