Ottawa's Bronson Centre has slowly become the go-to mid-sized concert venue in a city with a noticeable lack of them. Now, a new partnership will look to support booking and operations for the venue's arts and community initiatives.
Today, the Ottawa venue announced a partnership with the owners of Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre, promising "a significant increase in the number of shows in the Bronson Centre's concert venue and support major improvements to the facility."
Booking management for the 850-seat concert theatre will be handled by Toronto-based promoter Collective Concerts. A press release explains that the venue improvements "will allow for a greater frequency of events, enhanced concert experiences for audiences and performers, and versatility, with new, removable seating."
"An all-new Bronson Centre Music Theatre will be an amazing addition to a music market that has been largely underserved with venues of this size," Phoenix Concert Theatre co-owner Lisa Zbitnew said in a statement. "We are thrilled to be part of it and even more thrilled that we are supporting the music community, and the public at large with this new partnership. Social enterprise that serves community and offers great music? We are all in!"
Collective Concerts partner Amy Hersenhoren added, "This is great news for a city that has historically lacked spaces to book shows in mid-sized venues with 800-1,100 audience capacity. Collective Concerts sees a wonderful opportunity to bring many artists to the Ottawa market that might otherwise not visit the Nation's Capital. The positive response to this news in the music industry has been unanimous."
In recent years, the Bronson Centre stage has been graced by the likes of Beach House, the New Pornographers, Pennywise, Frank Turner, Yukon Blonde, the Beaches, Andy Shauf, Children of Bodom, Wintersleep and more.
In addition to the concert theatre, the Bronson Centre's facilities also include a 300-seat community hall, studio and office space. The Centre is home to 40 charities and not-for-profit tenant organizations.