Tudor Hall/Salle Tudor

Tudor Hall/Salle Tudor

 Tudor Hall/Salle Tudor. A 300-seat hall built in 1928 by James Aird Nesbitt,then owner of Ogilvy, who incorporated it on the newly built fifth floor of the department store on Ste-Catherine St., Montréal. Montréal's first space designed expressly for musical performance, the hall offered quality and style and it was not uncommon for visiting dignitaries to be among Nesbitt's guests. It contained a pipe organ with three manuals. In 1957, the organ was given to a local church, although the store kept the intricately tooled facades which originally housed it.

The hall's excellent acoustics were attributed to its oak-panelled walls. For a long time free noon-hour recitals were given daily by the organist Herbert Sanders. Many artists and ensembles performed there, including the Hart House String Quartet with Sir Ernest MacMillan, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, one of whose members was Martin Luther King, the Vienna Boys' Choir, and the Royal Chapel choir of London. The hall was used by the radio stations CFCF and CKAC for their musical programs. In 1931 the first Canadian TV programs, telecast by the experimental station VE9AF, originated in this hall. During the 1940s the hall was used in the war effort. The hall was administered by Ogilvy's as a public service until 1957, when its use was discontinued owing to the expansion of the store.

In 1986 Tudor Hall regained its original function following extensive renovations which restored its former appearance. Others who have performed in Tudor Hall include I Musici de Montréal, the Atelier Lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal, and the Arion Baroque Orchestra.