{"id":58142,"date":"2019-01-21T16:47:41","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T21:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=58142"},"modified":"2019-01-21T16:48:55","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T21:48:55","slug":"the-scoop-sony-centre-to-be-renamed-meridian-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2019\/01\/21\/the-scoop-sony-centre-to-be-renamed-meridian-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SCOOP | Sony Centre\u00a0To Be Renamed Meridian Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sony
First the O’Keefe Centre, then the Hummingbird Centre, then the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto’s ever-changing venue lands a new name as part of a major deal with a Canadian credit union. (Photo: Bernard B. ILarde\/ Creative Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Civic Theatres Toronto has announced at a press conference today a new partnership with Ontario\u2019s largest credit union and the third largest in Canada, Meridian.<\/p>\n

Meridian has committed $30.75-million over 15-years to Civic Theatres Toronto, marking one of the largest cultural partnerships in Canada.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts will be renamed, Meridian Hall<\/strong>. The Toronto Centre for the Arts will respectively become known as Meridian Arts Centre<\/strong>. The venues will officially rebrand on September 15, 2019. The St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, the third\u00a0venue run by Civic Theatres Toronto, will retain its name.<\/p>\n

Besides the partnership with Meridian, Civic Theatres Toronto has also announced it will be rebranding as TO Live. <\/strong>It will also\u00a0<\/strong>launch a new organization mandated to foster community engagement, called TO Live Foundation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“This has been a project long in the works and I believe it is the right and logical next step forward for our theatres,” said Mayor John Tory. “This new partnership will help build our community and ensure our theatres are strong, vibrant, creative places in our city.”<\/p>\n

Originally opened as, O\u2019Keefe Centre, on October 1, 1960, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts became a centrepiece for live\u00a0music in Toronto, attracting the likes of Bob Dylan,\u00a0David Bowie,\u00a0The Who, Led Zeppelin,\u00a0and Radiohead.<\/p>\n

As the former home stage to the Canadian Opera Company and the\u00a0National Ballet, the venue has hosted many international opera stars, including\u00a0Birgit Nilsson, Pl\u00e1cido Domingo and Renata Scotto.<\/p>\n

On February 1996, the building was later renamed the\u00a0Hummingbird Centre as part of a deal reached with Hummingbird Communications Ltd., a Canadian software company.<\/p>\n

In 2006, the venue was renamed again as the Sony Centre\u00a0Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, which included\u00a0a development deal that included the building of a new condominium building across from the centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s announcement demonstrates Meridian\u2019s commitment to improving the lives and wellbeing of the communities we serve, so it is only fitting that we partner with the city\u2019s best-in-class arts and cultural establishments,\u201d said Bill Maurin, President and CEO of Meridian.<\/p>\n

Clyde Wagner, President and CEO of TO Live pressed in a statement that an important factor in the partnership was finding the right fit \u201c\u2026to help achieve our vision for arts and culture in Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the naming rights for the venues, Meridian will tie in it\u2019s branding into the venues, and receive have access the Centres\u2019 digital and promotional platforms.<\/p>\n

The new name, Meridian Hall, is committed through 2034.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First the O’Keefe Centre, then the Hummingbird Centre, then the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto’s ever-changing venue lands a new name as part of a major deal with a Canadian credit union.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":58143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25164,39,63],"tags":[26158,26157,26156,26159,26160],"yst_prominent_words":[10459,7034,9026,7950,7949,26145,26144,26163,26162,26149,26148,9884,26161,7951,14615,7032,7948,26151,26146,6741],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/01\/Sony-Centre-Sony-Centre.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-f7M","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58142"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58142"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58153,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58142\/revisions\/58153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58142"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=58142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}