NAC History
THE BUILDING
Situated in the heart of the nation's capital across Confederation Square from Parliament Hill, the Centre is among the largest performing arts complexes in Canada. It is unique as the only multidisciplinary, bilingual performing arts centre in North America and features one of the largest stages on the continent.
Officially opened on June 2, 1969, the National Arts Centre was one of the key institutions created by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson as the principal centennial project of the federal government.
Built in the shape of a hexagon, the design became the architectural leitmotif for Canada's premier performing arts centre.
Designed by Fred Lebensold (ARCOP Design), one of North America's foremost theatre designers, the building was widely praised as a twentieth century architectural landmark. Of fundamental importance to the creators of the NAC was the belief that, beautiful and functional as the complex was, it would need more than bricks and mortar and, in the words of Jean Gascon, "it would need a heart that beats."
A programme to incorporate visual arts into the fabric of the building has resulted in the creation of one of the country's most unique permanent art collections of international and Canadian contemporary art. Pieces include special commissions such as, Homage to RFK (mural) by internationally acclaimed Canadian contemporary artist William Ronald, The Three Graces by Ossip Zadkine and a large free standing untitled bronze sculpture by Charles Daudelin. In 1997, the NAC collaborated with the Art Bank of the Canada Council of the Arts to install over 130 pieces of Canadian contemporary art.
At 1.158 million square feet, the National Arts Centre is one of the largest and most comprehensive performing arts facilities in the world. More a complex than a building, the NAC has 950-car parking garage and Le Café, one of Ottawa's finest restaurants. Uniquely located facing the Rideau Canal, the 176 seat restaurant features the internationally acclaimed cuisine of chef Kurt Waldele.
The NAC is home to four different performance spaces, each with its own unique characteristics. Southam Hall is home to the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the largest film screen in the country and the Micheline Beauchemin Curtain. The seating capacity for the four stages is:
TWO FLENTROP ORGANS ARE GIFTS OF THE DUTCH CANADIAN COMMUNITY TO CANADA
The National Arts Centre is the possessor of two organs built by the famous house of Flentrop Orgelbouw of Zaandam, the Netherlands.
The instruments - a medium-sized, 21 stop concert organ, and a small "positiv" organ - were gifts to Canada given by the Dutch-Canadian community in appreciation of the role played by Canadian troops in the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945.
The Dutch-Canadian Committee 1945-70 mounted a fundraising campaign under the title of "Operation Thankyou Canada" and, on March 17, 1970, on the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Holland, presented the two organs to the National Arts Centre "to round out the musical life of the Centre". The National Arts Centre, opened just some nine months prior to this, had hoped to install an organ for use in its Opera (Southam Hall), but had run out of funds before it could do so. Thus, the generous gesture of Canadians of Dutch origin was especially welcome.
At the time of the presentation in fact only the small "positiv" instrument was turned over to the National Arts Centre, as a token of the larger one which was yet to come. This took three years to build. It was finally "voiced" in September 1973 and inaugurated at a special recital on October 7, 1973 by the well-known Dutch master organist Albert de Klerk.
