Around this time two years from now, students in the faculty of music at the University of Manitoba should have a new stage where they can hone their craft.

Construction got underway on the $24-million Desautels Concert Hall a few weeks ago at the U of M’s Fort Garry campus. The aim is to have it completed and open by fall 2023, the university said in a Thursday news release.

“It’s very exciting for us,” said Edward Jurkowski, dean of the U of M faculty of music.

Fundraising kicked off more than a decade ago, Jurkowski said, with a $10-million donation from Marcel Desautels — a U of M alumnus, philanthropist and businessman, who was also a lifelong singer and once considered a career in opera. 

On top of other contributions, Michael F. B. Nesbitt and Gail Asper donated $2.5 million each in recent years.

The building, designed by Cibinel Architecture, is also the final piece of a series of renovations to Taché Hall in recent years.

The concert hall will have state-of-the-art acoustics and 409 seats for the audience, the U of M says. 

The stage will be large enough to accommodate a full choir and orchestra simultaneously, said Jurkowski, but a section of it can also be removed to leave just the orchestra pit, with space for 48 musicians.

It will be used for traditional orchestral, choir, opera and theatre performances, as well as showcasing musical performances with theatre, dance or visual art elements, he said.

Jurkowski thinks the space may also help attract more students to the U of M music faculty.

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