The Quebec government announced Thursday that construction of a new concert hall at Place des Arts for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra will begin this summer.
Kent Nagano, MSO music director, said Montreal deserves a state of the art facility comparable to the top concert halls in the world.
"Concert halls historically have been built in the centre of a great city -- Paris, Vienna, London, New York," Nagano said.
Nagano added he believes the long-awaited hall will attract music lovers from across the globe.
"It will function as a light house or a beacon and it will shine out to the rest of the international world," he said.
Public-private partnership
The project will cost $260 million. Most of the money will come from the private sector, as part of a public-private partnership.
"We pay as we would pay a mortgage over a 30-year period, and when the period is finished, then the hall will revert back to the ownership of the government of Quebec," said Premier Jean Charest.
Two-year project
The new concert hall will be 20,000 square feet, complete with 2,000 seats and three balconies.
But the main attraction will be the acoustics, said Culture Minister Christine St. Pierre.
"The acoustics will be designed by Russell Johnson, who is the best acoustic specialist in the world," said St. Pierre.
The hall is expected to be completed in September 2011.
