Built 1894, still one of the world's best-sounding rooms
Massey Hall
Built by an industrialist in memory of his son, Massey Hall has hosted everyone from the 1953 "greatest jazz concert ever played" to a $184-million, three-year renovation that finished in 2021.
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Our performing arts guide covers the Toronto Symphony's move to Roy Thomson Hall in 1982. Before that move, its home — and still one of the most respected concert venues in the country — was Massey Hall.
Built by a father, in memory of a son
Industrialist and philanthropist Hart Massey commissioned the hall in memory of his son Charles Albert Massey. Designed by architect Sidney Badgley with a Moorish Revival interior — arches inspired directly by Spain's Alhambra Palace — the 3,500-seat hall opened in 1894 with a performance of Handel's Messiah. It was known as Massey Music Hall until 1933.
Six decades as the TSO's home, and a famous jazz night
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra performed regularly at Massey Hall from its 1922 founding until moving to Roy Thomson Hall in 1982. In between, the hall hosted a genuinely legendary 1953 jazz concert featuring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach together on one stage — a lineup jazz historians still routinely call one of the greatest jazz concerts ever recorded.
A $184-million restoration (2018–2021)
Massey Hall closed in July 2018 for a major $184-million restoration and expansion, adding a seven-storey glass-and-steel addition with rehearsal rooms and recording studios while restoring the historic hall itself. It reopened on November 25, 2021, fittingly, with a concert by Canadian folk legend Gordon Lightfoot.
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Sources
- The Canadian Encyclopedia — Massey Hall
- Storeys — How Massey Hall Became One of the World's Greatest Concert Halls
- Wikipedia — Massey Hall