In May, the Vancouver Youth Choir won the Fleischmann International Trophy at the Cork International Choral Festival.
Local audiences may have to wait awhile to see these talented youth perform.
“The Vancouver Youth Choir is the best in the world,” said Suzanne Anton, chair of the Vancouver Concert Hall and Theatre Society. “Their Christmas concert could sell out the Orpheum twice. But they can’t get into the venue.”
Anton was one of the speakers at a news conference Thursday to address the lack of performance space in the city.
Suzanne Anton is the chair of the Vancouver Concert Hall and Theatre Society.
A two-year study was developed in consultation with a coalition of 32 local performing arts organizations impacted by Vancouver having the lowest per-capita music hall capacity of any major Canadian or comparable international city.
With 0.52 seats per 1,000 residents, the city can’t even measure up to Calgary’s 1.00 figure.
Three possible locations are being proposed for construction of a new Vancouver Cultural Precinct — Robson Square, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Vancouver Playhouse, and the False Creek waterfront between B.C. Place and Science World.
Each of these choices would include a 2,000-seat, full-production facility proscenium theatre, a 1,700-seat concert hall, an 800-seat performance theatre, and a 400-seat multi-use space.
The only additions to the downtown arts district in the past seven decades were the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in 1959, the Vancouver Playhouse in 1962, and the restoration of the Orpheum in 1977. With no new confirmed expansion of performance venue capacity, the per-capita seating gap continues to widen as the region’s population increases.
Anton notes Vancouver is “way overdue” for an upgrade.
“All 32 coalition organizations, all music and dance based, need good acoustics, and don’t have one Vancouver venue meeting demand,” said Anton. “So we are proposing these new halls. All function flexibly, so you can have music one night, an opera the next, assorted touring acts, etc.”
Downtown Vancouver presently has a total arts performance seating capacity of 6,250 seats.
One of the problems facing arts organizations is that 85 per cent of this capacity is held in two 2,700-seat sites — the Orpheum and the Queen Elizabeth. The next available civic theatre is the Vancouver Playhouse with 660 seats. The Annex only fits 190.
While stressing her love of the Orpheum, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra president and CEO Angela Elster says that the VSO has long sought a smaller, acoustically stronger venue, reserving the Orpheum for big events such as Christmas recitals.
“The sweet spot for a symphony orchestra is around 1,800 seats, and neither the Orpheum or Queen Elizabeth were designed for orchestra,” said Elster.
Don Schmitt speaks to an assembled crowd in Vancouver, B.C. Thursday, July 23, 2026.
Canadian firm Diamond Schmitt Architects designed the three different proposals for a Vancouver cultural district.
“We’ve done 60 different halls of different sizes globally, including the new Geffen Hall in New York at Lincoln Center and Buddy Holly Hall in Lubbock, Tex.,” said Don Schmitt, Diamond Schmitt’s principal architect. “Vancouver is very much in need of fine tuning the menu of performance spaces which fit the scale and needs of the arts organizations involved in this coalition.”
Besides meeting local needs for world-class arts facilities, Schmitt notes the return on investments in similar projects such as London’s Southlands Arts Centre generate $200 million annually while creating 2,500 jobs. Anton says the next step in the plan is selecting which proposal is best.
While politicians representing the City of Vancouver, the province and federal government were all on hand Thursday to voice support for a new Vancouver cultural district, no mention of any funding at any level was confirmed.
Related
Architect rendering of proposed Queen Elizabeth Theatre concept for Vancouver Cultural Precinct
Architect rendering of proposed Vancouver cultural precinct concept for Robson Square
Architect rendering for a proposed Vancouver cultural district at False Creek.