Listen Up!
A Conversation Series on Sustainable Models and Strategies for a Vancouver Music Centre
Volume 1: Introducing Our Acoustical Design Book
Featuring Larry Tedford (San Francisco) and Donald Luxton (Vancouver)
Tuesday, May 1, 2018, 7-9 pm
The Startup Studio at The Post at 750
#110 – 750 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
Free admission (limited space, free registration at vimlistenup.eventbrite.ca, reception to follow)
“Prescriptive design criteria might work; strategic, performance-based design
focusing on people will work.” – Larry Tedford
Vancouver has produced some of the best musicians in the world and is home to a growing population eager for music of all kinds, yet is lacking the creative hub for music that can be found in many cities. As plans move forward to include a music presentation/creation venue in the vision for Northeast False Creek, VIM House is looking to engage the music community in a series of discussions exploring sustainable models and strategies for this future venue. The first in this Conversation Series will feature a session on acoustics design, presented by Larry Tedford (San Francisco), the lead consultant on the development of the VIM House Acoustical Design Book. The conversation will be moderated by Donald Luxton, author of our 2014 Feasibility Study which outlined the vision and development of VIM House.
Mr. Tedford will present the strategy which was developed over three 2 day visits to Vancouver in 2014-2015. Tedford, along with Denis Blount and Peter Dodds, met with musicians, music presenters, sound technicians and production staff, and visited 11 Vancouver venues where music is presented. Workshops were held with key stakeholders to share their experience and explore various technical requirements that would affect the acoustical performance of the proposed venues.
The VIM House Acoustic Design Book is based on their research and expertise, information and feedback from the Vancouver sessions as well as previous VIM House studies and consultation, and further detailed review by key music community participants and stakeholders. The Acoustic Design Book will provide the basis for the design of the purpose-built music centre which will contain a main venue for a wide range of music, and a secondary venue more focused on creative and interdisciplinary projects, educational presentations, workshops and intimate concerts.
Listen Up! A Conversation Series consists of talks to review the planning of VIM House to date, to generate discussion and collaboration, and explore the road ahead for the culture and cultivation of music in Vancouver. Listen Up! will allow the Society to bring Vancouver’s music visionaries together to learn about cooperative music venues, and about creating and maintaining sustainable operating models for live music. The intent is to open doors and minds to the possibilities for live music now and in the future. As development plans are being presented for Northeast False Creek, it is essential the music community find a way to present a unified vision for the proposed music incubator/venue.
The Vancouver Independent Music Centre Society – VIM House
The Vancouver Independent Music Centre Society (VIM House) was created in July 2011 by a coalition of musicians, music presenters and managers who support the planning and development of a purpose built, culturally diverse, affordable and accessible music centre. This not-for-profit, charitable organization has undertaken a series of studies to determine the need for and feasibility of a new state-of-the art venue that will suit the needs of the local music community.
The vision for VIM House is to showcase the incredible diversity and wealth of music in Vancouver, as well as to host performers from around the world; to create a place where musicians and artists from different genres and cultures will meet one another, share ideas and experiences and develop new musical collaborations.
Larry Tedford, Director of Digital Environs, Incorp
For 30 years as a specialty design consultant, Larry Tedford sought to forge an emotional connection between artists, audience, and communities with destinations designed for performing arts.
Larry’s particular skill is infusing the higher-level factors influencing experience and place with a deep understanding of technology and architecture.
His performing arts work as an acoustics, production technology, and theatre planning consultant includes: San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House renovation; the California Academy of Sciences; Sydney Opera House theatre masterplan; the Disney Institute Recital Hall; Las Vegas Academy of Arts Theatre; Portland’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall; Houston’s Wortham Center Brown Opera Theatre; and Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands theatres, Victoria Hall renovation, and School of the Arts theatres.
Donald Luxton
Born and raised in Vancouver, Donald Luxton has a passionate interest in local history and heritage. Involved in the field of heritage and cultural resource management since 1983, he is a well-known consultant, advocate, educator and author, and has worked on numerous projects throughout western Canada, including the restoration of residential, commercial, and institutional buildings, and the development of museums and cultural facilities. Since 2005 he has been a sessional lecturer in the BCIT Architectural Science degree program. He is an award-winning author of local history books, and his interest in the preservation of architecture has led to his continuing involvement with a number of heritage societies, including his role as a founding Director of the Victoria Heritage Foundation, and as President of Heritage Vancouver from 2004-13. In 2007, he was elected to the College of Fellows of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, and in 2009 he was the recipient of the British Columbia Heritage Award.