In the Toronto Star (Canada) on Saturday (12/19), William Littler reports on the newly opened FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and its orchestral venue Partridge Hall. “ ‘Our orchestra has a home at last,’ announced [Niagara Symphony board member] Christopher Newton to a burst of applause from an enthusiastic late November audience in Partridge Hall, largest of four venues in St. Catharines’ spanking new FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. The $60-million facility, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects of Toronto (with Gary McCluskie as lead architect) is a long-awaited project of the City of St. Catharines, a sometime industrial centre of close to 130,000 people long in need of downtown revitalization.” The Niagara Symphony had “been in search of a proper home for close to seven decades,” Hannigan reports. “With 789 seats, a warmly inviting interior and splendid acoustics, [Partridge Hall] even impressed the concert’s high-profile guest artist, violinist James Ehnes.” With seventeen concerts a year, the Niagara Symphony is, “according to managing director Candice Turner-Smith, a professional ensemble…. And if this latest main series concert represents its current performance level, St. Catharines is getting a lot of bang for its bucks…. Ticket sales have reportedly risen 47 per cent over last season.”
Posted December 21, 2015
