Performing Arts & the D.B. Clarke Theatre

Formerly spread among several older buildings on the university’s Loyola campus, Concordia’s Departments of Music, Theatre and Contemporary Dance have been consolidated in spacious, modern facilities in the heart of downtown Quartier Concordia.

Contemporary dance and theatre programs are now offered in studios on the 7th floor of the John Molson School of Business (MB building) with theatre design classrooms and workshops in the nearby Guy-Metro (GM) building. Music classes and performances take place in state-of-the-art studio and rehearsal spaces on the Molson building’s 8th floor. Faculty offices are in the nearby GM building.

The new infrastructure at the downtown campus provides an ideal environment for interdisciplinary teaching, performance and research. Along with attracting the best students, the new spaces are drawing the attention of the local arts community and artists worldwide. This, in turn, is creating greater visibility for the work of the students, who are gaining the skills to thrive in Quebec and Canada’s vibrant and innovative performing arts culture.

A combined $11-million investment by the federal and provincial governments has also enabled Concordia to make the first significant improvements to the D.B. Clarke Theatre in 40 years. Long-serving as one of Concordia’s premier performances spaces, the theatre located in the Hall (HB) building is now a safer, more comfortable venue with 387 new seats, a new curtain, new carpeting, and a beautifully refurbished teak interior.

The fly system – a complex set of ropes, counterweights and pulleys used to move curtains, backdrops and lighting – has been completely upgraded. The lobby has also been reconfigured to create a space that accommodates more people before and after performances as well as break-out groups during conferences.

Overall facilities

• 18 studios and classrooms
• 30 faculty offices
• an on-site technical support equipment depot
• LEED silver building certification meeting high environmental and sustainability criteria
• proximity to Instructional and Information Technology Services and the Centre for Digital Arts
• proximity to the Hexagram Institute for Research-Creation in Media Arts and Technologies

Theatre

• four acting studios with sprung floors and state-of-the-art projection and integrated sound systems (two with lighting grids)
• two design classrooms, as well as a lighting lab
• new costume shop
• new costume storage space and a dye lab
• closer proximity to the newly renovated D.B. Clarke Theatre

Contemporary Dance

• two standard dance studios with sprung floors
• large dance studio with full lighting grid (Black Box)
• video-recording equipment in each dance studio
• state-of-the-art projection and integrated sound systems in each dance studio

Music

• musical spaces designed by an acoustician specifically for the department’s needs, all on one floor and accessible by elevator
• jazz, electroacoustic, classical and choir “smart” classrooms with networked multimedia, mixing and playback capabilities
• recording room and control booth wired to record and playback activities in certain classrooms
• electroacoustic studios, including an octophonic studio
• keyboard lab featuring 16 keyboards
• state-of-the-art practice modules with built-in soundproofing designed for solo or ensemble use
• 27 new pianos, including six concert grands