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VSO has 13 performance venues but orpheum theatre where I am working now is the largest and the oledest place.

This thursday, elementary school students visited orpheum theatre to look around here so I helped my collegues who guided them.

Actually this tour was not only for these students but also for me because it is my first time to come to Orpheum. Whenever I come to here, it was always closed so i was so glad to come to orpheum. This place was so huge and wonderful!!!

This picture is taken when orpheum theatre is founded,1927.

This is recent photograph.

It is really intersting that they maintain orginal intenrior and exterior for 80 years. It is quite diffrent from Korea because in Korea, they always change the design and think new one is the best.

Tour flow was main lobby > WCEH> Granville St entrance > 4th floor > 3th floor

Orpheum theatre was built in 1927 as a Vaudeville Theatre and VSO gave its first performance at the Orpheum Theatre in 1930. The program featured Beethoven’s fifth symphony but it garnered horrible reviews.

Following renovations, the Orpheum was reopened in 1977 and has been the permanent home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra ever since. During the renovations, the VSO moved to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in 1960 and then moved back to the newly-renovated theatre.

Allard De Ridder was the VSO’s first music director. In addition to conducting all concerts, he selected the repertoire, guest soloists, and musicians. The musicians were no longer just the ones in town or available, they were VSO members.

Bramwell Tovey became music director in 2000. He oversaw the expansion of the VSO to include more than 150 concerts each season. Tovey led the VSO to break the world record for the largest orchestra performance in an outdoor venue when he led over 6000 musicians in a performance of Beethoven’s ninth Symphony.

In 2008, the VSO took a tour to China and Korea, the first such tour by a Canadian Orchestr in over 30 years.

Orpheum Theatre is named after Orpheus who was legendry musician and poet in ancient greek religion and myth. It also contains meaning ” a place dedicated to Orpheus”.

It cost $1.25 million (whici is around 16 million in today’s money) to build the Orpheum and it was all finaced by a man named Joseph Francis Langer. The theatre is a “hodge-podge” of architecture styles, which makes the theatre really over the top. The theatre was designed to look lavish but not cost a lot because this was just prior to the Depression.

In addition, it was the biggest theatre in Canada when it opened .

*Basic Time Line for the Orpheum :

1920s – Vaudeville Theatre

1930s – Movie Theatre owned by Famous players (also had live concerts)

1973 – Famous players wanted to get inside to build multi-plex theatre – City outcry & “Save the Orpheum” rallies

1974- City bought the Orpheum for $7.1 million($3.1million City money + $3.0 million from Provincial/Federal Governmnet + Donors)

1975 –  Closed for renovations

1983 – Expanded the foyer, added Smithe Entrance

2006 onwards – renovations

2009 – Olympic funded renovations