Chan Centre for the Performing Arts

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Chan Shun Concert Hall, at the Chan Centre

The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts is located on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is situated within the natural landscape of the campus and is surrounded by evergreens and rhododendrons. This state of the art performing arts venue holds the 1,200-seat Chan Shun Concert Hall, the flexible-seating Telus Studio Theatre, the 160-seat Royal Bank Cinema, the Great Perfomers Lounge, and a glass lobby. Completed in 1997, the Chan Centre hosts classes, rehearsals and performances for a variety of the UBC departments of music, film and theatre as well as a diverse, yearly performing arts season that attracts audiences from all over the Lower Mainland.

1 History
2 Notes
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

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The creation of the Chan Centre was made possible by an initial donation from two brothers and businessmen, Tom and Caleb Chan. This was the largest private donation to a cultural institution in Canadian history at the time. ^[1] The Chan brothers also donated additional funds in order to set up an endowment fund which, through the interest revenue that it generates, supports many arts organizations and diverse performances at the local, national and international level.

The Chans are philanthropists, businessmen and Christians. Their father, Chan Shun, worked his way up in the business world, from sewing in a shirt factory to eventually becoming the head of the Crocodile shirt company. His sons were strongly influenced by his morals and generosity and in the 1980s, after immigrating to Canada, they decided to give back to their new country by helping to build an educational arts facility at UBC. They approached president David Strangway (president of UBC from 1985-1997) and made the proposal, and soon, the concept for a performing arts centre was in motion. ^[2]

The construction of the Chan took 2 years to complete and the official opening occurred on May 11th, 1997. The cost came to approximately $25 million dollars with donations from the Chan Foundation of Canada, BC Tel (now Telus), the Royal Bank of Canada and the Provincial Government of British Columbia.

[edit] Notes

^ Roan, Neill Archer (2002).

Scale and Timbre: The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts Bing Thom Architects. London: Black Dog Publishing and Bing Thom Architects, 79. ISBN 1-90103-348-1.
^ [[1]]

[edit] References

"Memoriam: Chan Shun, A Lifetime of Giving" (1997-06-12). UBC Office of Public Affairs.

Clark, Andrew. "Harmony in the Concert Hall", Financial Times, 1997-01-20. Retrieved on 1997-01-20.

"Obituaries: Chan Shun Endowed Centre at UBC", Vancouver Sun [2], 1997-05-29. Retrieved on 1997-05-29.

Haden, Bruce (March 1998). "Concert Halls 1: Pacific Opus" 43 (3): 20-23. Canadian Architect [3].

MacInnes, Katherine (October 1998). "Sound of silence" 3-6 (70): 1-6. World Architecture.

Roan, Neill Archer (2002). Scale and Timbre: The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts Bing Thom Architects. London: Black Dog Publishingand Bing Thom Architects. ISBN 1901033481.