The Francis Winspear Centre for Music is a performing arts centre located in the downtown core of Edmonton , Alberta , Canada. Opened in 1997, it is the home of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra . The centre is named after Francis G. Winspear, who donated $ 6 million ($ 10.6 million today) to the construction of the facility - the single largest private donation to a performing arts facility in Canadian history.
19-533: In addition to the donation from Winspear, the Canadian federal government and Alberta provincial government contributed an additional $ 15 million each ($ 26.5 million each, today) towards its construction. The concert hall has a seating capacity of 1,668 people and when seating is available in the choir loft above the main stage area the hall can hold up to 1,884. The hall is a tall, rectangular room with stepped, curved balconies and terraces. With its parallel side walls,
38-546: A 550-seat flex-use midsize acoustic hall, childcare centre, underground and surface-level parking, multifunctional spaces, and commercial space. This project will become the home base for the community programming offered through the Tommy Banks Centre and allow increased capacity for programming, outreach, and partnership with sister arts organizations and business partners. The acoustics of the Winspear are adjustable through
57-489: A ballroom. They are also designed large to help the sound of orchestras carry well throughout the whole room. A special case is the annual Vienna Opera Ball , where, just for one night, the auditorium of the Vienna State Opera is turned into a large ballroom. On the eve of the event, the rows of seats are removed from the stalls , and a new floor, level with the stage , is built. Sometimes ballrooms have stages in
76-409: A detailed site plan to the local fire code official, including "details of the means of egress, seating capacity, [and] arrangement of the seating...." Once safety considerations have been satisfied, determinations of seating capacity turn on the total size of the venue, and its purpose. For sports venues, the "decision on maximum seating capacity is determined by several factors. Chief among these are
95-410: A large room such as the main drawing room , long gallery , or hall may double as a ballroom, but, a good ballroom should have the right type of flooring , such as hardwood flooring or stone flooring (usually marble or stone). . For most styles of modern dance, a wooden sprung floor offers the best surface. In later times the term ballroom has been used to describe nightclubs where customers dance,
114-463: A table derived from the seating capacity of the space. The International Fire Code, portions of which have been adopted by many jurisdictions, is directed more towards the use of a facility than the construction. It specifies, "For areas having fixed seating without dividing arms, the occupant load shall not be less than the number of seats based on one person for each 18 inches (457 mm) of seating length". It also requires that every public venue submit
133-494: A theatre or other performing space, the "seating capacity of the performance facility must be disclosed". Seating capacity may influence the kind of contract to be used and the royalties to be given. The seating capacity must also be disclosed to the copyright owner in seeking a license for the copyrighted work to be performed in that venue. Venues that may be leased for private functions such as ballrooms and auditoriums generally advertise their seating capacity. Seating capacity
152-528: Is also an important consideration in the construction and use of sports venues such as stadiums and arenas . When entities such as the National Football League 's Super Bowl Committee decide on a venue for a particular event, seating capacity, which reflects the possible number of tickets that can be sold for the event, is an important consideration. Seating capacity differs from total capacity (sometimes called public capacity ), which describes
171-645: The Top Rank Suites in the United Kingdom for example were also often referred to as ballrooms. The phrase "having a ball" has grown to encompass many events where person(s) are having fun, not just dancing. Ballrooms are generally quite large, and may have ceilings higher than other rooms in the same building. The large amount of space for dancing , as well as the highly formal tone of events have given rise to ballroom dancing . The largest balls are now nearly always held in public buildings, and many hotels have
190-449: The City, planning began for the expansion and launched a capital campaign in spring of 2020. The Winspear Project is multi-faceted and includes a 41,000 square foot expansion, refresh and renewal of existing spaces, and space to house a YMCA daycare and parkade. As part of the funding strategy, they are engaging the public in a community capital campaign of $ 17M. The Winspear Project will feature
209-584: The Winspear represents a modern adaptation of the classic "shoebox" shaped concert halls of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2002, the Davis Concert Organ was installed at the centre. Launched at a sold-out performance on September 14, 2002, the pipe organ was built by Orgues Létourneau Limitée of Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec . It has 96 stops, 122 ranks, and 6,551 pipes. It is named after Stuart Davis, to acknowledge his generosity and also in memory of his late wife Winona. In 2009, with support from
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#1733085677788228-473: The curved acoustic reflectors - assists in cross-stage communication among musicians. Seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space , in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law . Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats hundreds of thousands of people. The largest sporting venue in
247-436: The front of the room where the host or a special guest can speak. That stage can also be used for instrumentalists and musical performers. This list only includes ballrooms with permanent wood floors. The size of the floor only includes the largest contiguous area without obstructions. The websites and materials about some places add up multiple spaces, rooms, and balconies, and floors. However, this list ranks ballrooms based on
266-459: The maximum total number of people can refer to either the physical space available or limitations set by law. Ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building , the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls . Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces , especially historic mansions and palaces, contain one or more ballrooms. In other large houses,
285-471: The primary sports program and the size of the market area". In motion picture venues, the "limit of seating capacity is determined by the maximal viewing distance for a given size of screen", with image quality for closer viewers declining as the screen is expanded to accommodate more distant viewers. Seating capacity of venues also plays a role in what media they are able to provide and how they are able to provide it. In contracting to permit performers to use
304-399: The seats shall be securely fastened to the floor" but provides exceptions if the total number of seats is fewer than 100, if there is a substantial amount of space available between seats or if the seats are at tables. It also delineates the number of available exits for interior balconies and galleries based on the seating capacity, and sets forth the number of required wheelchair spaces in
323-438: The total number of people who can fit in a venue or in a vehicle either sitting or standing. Where seating capacity is a legal requirement, however, as it is in movie theatres and on aircraft , the law reflects the fact that the number of people allowed in should not exceed the number who can be seated. Use of the term "public capacity" indicates that a venue is allowed to hold more people than it can actually seat. Again,
342-405: The use of velour banners and curtains. These can be used to control the reverberant characteristics for musical events that require a less reverberant environment, or for orchestra rehearsals when the presence of a full audience needs to be approximated. An adjustable canopy system balances the clarity and reverberance of performances, helps control the loudness of the sound, and - in conjunction with
361-547: The world, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway , has a permanent seating capacity for more than 235,000 people and infield seating that raises capacity to an approximate 400,000. Safety is a primary concern in determining the seating capacity of a venue: "Seating capacity, seating layouts and densities are largely dictated by legal requirements for the safe evacuation of the occupants in the event of fire". The International Building Code specifies, "In places of assembly,
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