Sunday Afternoon Fun At The National Music Centre
Recently, while chatting with music-loving friends I found out they haven’t been to Calgary’s National Music Centre (NMC) yet. So we all decided to go the next day – a Sunday afternoon. And we were glad we did. Not only did we enjoy the exhibitions, but were treated to a live performance by Calgary singer songwriter, Matt Blais, as part of NMC’s Stampede Busker Sessions.
Bonus: NMC has free admission on the weekends courtesy of Alberta Treasury Branch until the end of 2021.
Music Typewriter, Made by Smith Corona, USA. The Musicwriter is a typewriter that is used to print music. Invented in 1955 by Cecil Effinger, it was designed to be “as easy for a musician to use as a standard typewriter is for a novelist.” It doesn’t not require special manuscript papers, as the Musicwritter can produce its now staff lines. The Simth Corona Musicwriter was acquired by Calgarian Bing Han in 2019, who has spent the past six years collecting typewriters. The original owners was a musician who bought it in Vancouver in the 1980s. It was manufactured in 1962 and its is speculated that less than 100 we made, with only two available in Canada.
NMC Background
The National Music Centre’s roots date back to 1987 with the installation of the Carthy Organ in Calgary’s Jack Singer Concert Hall in Arts Commons, which was the catalyst for the International Organ Festival hosted in Calgary from 1990 to 2002. The success of the festival was the genesis for the creation of the Chinook Keyboard Centre (CKC) which began collecting keyboard instruments from around the world. It quickly amassed one of the world’s largest collections.
In 2000, the CKC was renamed the Cantos Music Foundation and located in the historic Customs House (est. 1916) building at 134 - 11Ave SE. There it began offering concerts, tours and educational programming. In 2005 an exhibition documenting 100 years of music in Alberta inspired the idea to expand the vision and a changing the name to - renamed “National Music Centre” - in 2012.
In 2013, construction started on a signature 160,000 signature square-foot building which opened on July 1st, 2016 to much fanfare. Today, NMC is home to 2,000 rare instruments and artifacts, as well as being a hub for music innovation in Calgary.
Bell Canada contributed $10 million to brand NMC’s building as “Studio Bell” for 12 years, in 2015.
Today, the building is referred to as Studio Bell by some; NMC by others, either way it is has become an integral part of Calgary’s cultural scene.
In the NMC lobby is a portrait of the late Gord Downie, of the iconic Canadian band Tragically Hip, made entirely out of pennies. It was created by Airdrie, Alberta, artist Luke Carruther. It is 8 ft tall and took approximately 11,400 to create.
What’s To See – And Hear?
Did you know, NMC is home to four Canadian Music Halls of Fame – Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Canadian Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, ADISQ (Quebec Music Industry Association) Hall of Fame and Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame? Together, these four exhibits nicely tell the history of music in Canada.
In the main floor lobby is a touching exhibition of letters from locals about the importance of music in their lives. There is also a gift shop/café on the main floor that is worth exploring on your way out.
You can watch NMC technicians repairing and cleaning instruments.
On the second floor is “Music Mosaic,” an exhibition that focuses on the diverse people and cultures that have contributed to creating Canada’s music scene.
In the room which documents Canada’s landmark live music venues, you will find Calgary’s own Knox United Church.
The third floor is temporarily closed due to COVID. Normally, this is the place for some hands-on fun, including singing along with your favourite musician in the vocal booths. The fourth floor is also hands-on, letting you not only see rare instruments, but also try your hand at playing some of the not so rare ones. The fifth floor is where all four halls of fame are located.
On Saturdays and Sundays at noon and 3 pm, visitors are treated to an amazing short organ recital. You will be treated to the sound of one the largest NMC artifacts - the Kimball Theatre Organ. Made in 1924, it was designed to accompany silent films. The music fills the entire building creating a sense of being immersed in music.
It is a celestial experience.
Prior to COVID you could actually sit and watch the Kimbell Organ being played.
NMC is full of fun facts that you can impress your family and friends with.
NMC is fun for people of all ages and backgrounds.
The Architecture
In addition to the exhibitions, the design of building itself is an extraordinary experience.
Designed by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture (Portland, Oregon), the exterior of the five-storey building has an intriguing shape, one that that juxtaposes curved and straight lines that not only reference acoustic vessels (tubes and vessels, shaped like a bell, used in ancient theaters to propel the voices of actors so they could be heard at a distance), as well as the sweeping curve of the nearby Bow River as it arcs around downtown Calgary.
The glazed bronze-hue terracotta tiles take on different colours depending on the sky and the angle of the sun. All 226,000+ terra cotta tiles inside and outside the building were placed-in by hand.
The unique glazing colour is designed to evoke the golden prairies and the stone of the Rocky Mountains. (FYI: The tiles were glazed in the Netherlands by a company that has been in the same family since about the 17th century.)
As you step inside the building, you are quickly engulfed by the shards of sunlight that dramatically shine in from the upper floor windows.
The staircase in the middle of the building allows you to experience the sweeping arcs and angles that suggest the sound waves of music.
The building also has a huge bridge over 4th St SE, linking the Center with the historic King Eddy Hotel, an iconic live music venue dating back to 1905 and commonly known as “the home of the blues.” In fact the site of NMC was chosen so it could be linked to one of Calgary’s - and Canada’s - iconic live music venues.
Called the East Village Skybridge, this bridge not only allows for a unique view of downtown, East Village and Stampede Park, but enables you to listen to the ambient sounds of the “Solar Drones,” an audio installation created by Colorado artist Patrick Marold. (FYI: Solar Drones was made from pianos destroyed in the 2013 flood when NMC was still located in the Customs House. The pianos had been stored in the basement. Most of the collection is stored off site today!)
Indeed, the entire NMC – its building and contents is a work of art.
Skybridge from the street. FYI Calgary has one of the largest collections of sky bridges in the world. The downtown’s +15 system has 62 bridges that are 15 feet above the sideways connecting 100s of buildings to create at 18 kilometre urban pathway.
Last Word
If you are looking for something fun to do and haven’t been to the NMC ever, or in a long time, I highly recommend it. If you have visiting family and friends regardless of the age, it would be a great place to take them for an afternoon. Combine it with a visit to Glenbow, Central Library and the Fort Calgary and you’ve got a full day of discovering Calgary’s sense of place - past and present.
Bonus: Visit on a Sunday and you will often be treated to live music outside just a block north of NMC in East Village’s C-Square. And I hear too, NMC is also looking at more Sunday afternoon live music in the museum.
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