The Francis Winspear Centre for Music is on the corner of 102nd Avenue and 99th Street, in the heart of The Arts District in downtown Edmonton. It is readily accessible by car, Edmonton Transit (bus and LRT), and the Pedway system.

Locate the Winspear Centre on a Google map.

Just steps away from the Winspear Centre are the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Stanley A. Milner Library, the Citadel Theatre, Edmonton City Hall, and Winston Churchill Square. Opening onto the square, the Winspear Centre is literally in the middle of it all! In this section, you will find information about parking, public transit access, and the many amenities located nearby, to make your visit to the Winspear Centre part of a dynamic day or evening experience in the City of Champions - Edmonton, Alberta.

Nearly every level of the Winspear Centre is able to accommodate patrons with wheelchairs. Please advise our Box Office staff when you purchase your tickets that access to wheelchair seating will be necessary.

Downtown Edmonton offers the City’s premier hotels and all the amenities you require at your doorstep. The list below is only a partial one - there are many downtown accommodations - but this is the preferred list of accommodations for the Winspear Centre and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Clicking the links below will take you to that hotel's website. External links will open in a new window.

• Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe
  • 10111 Bellamy Hill
  • Phone: 780-428-6611
• The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald
  • 10065 100 Street
  • Phone: 780-424-5181
• Union Bank Inn
  • 10053 Jasper Avenue
  • Phone: 780-423-3600
• The Westin Edmonton
  • 10135 100 Street
  • Phone: 780-426-3636
  • (official hotel of the Winspear Centre)

For some, a concert in a world-class facility like the Winspear Centre is a great excuse to dress to the nines. But it’s hardly necessary. If that’s your style – go for it! If it’s not – hey, you paid for the ticket, so do what makes you feel comfortable. You’ll see a wide range of dress, from casual to pretty classy. Business casual is probably a great middle ground.

There's a bit of a ritual, it may appear, with orchestral performances, and it can seem unsettling. If you’re not sure about when you’re supposed to do what, a good rule of thumb is that if everyone else is clapping, it’s OK for you to do so as well.

Typically, it is considered polite to clap upon the entrance onstage of our Concertmaster, who leads the orchestra in a final tuning prior to the performance. Next, applause is given to the entrance of that performance’s conductor.

But now, it gets tricky, for some. It has become traditional at orchestral performances of standard “classical” music, out of respect for a composer’s entire work, to wait until the whole work has been performed before applauding.

So let’s take a look at a typical classical performance, which features an “overture,” a “concerto,” and a “symphony.” Here’s how it looks in the program:

• HÉTU

  Antinomie, Op.23 (9’)*

• BEETHOVEN

  Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op.92 (35’)*

  • Poco sostenuto – Vivace
  • Allegretto
  • Presto – Assai meno presto
  • Allegro con brio

• INTERMISSION

• BRAHMS

  Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op.83 (47’)

  • Allegro non troppo
  • Allegro appassionato
  • Andante
  • Allegretto grazioso
  • Marc-André Hamelin, piano

Notice all those Italian words under the titles of both the Beethoven symphony and the Brahms concerto. Those are the individual “movements,” or the separate parts which make up the whole work. The Beethoven symphony has a fast first movement, a slower second movement, a fast third movement, and a jolly and quick fourth movement. So there are three times the work stops or pauses before the entire piece is done. Typically, custom would have us wait until the last note of the Allegro con brio (in the case of the Beethoven) or the Allegretto grazioso (in the case of the Brahms) was played before everyone applauds. You’ll also notice to the right the approximate length of the entire work. So if there’s a pause 10 minutes into the symphony, chances are it’s not done yet.

But like just about anything connected with classical music, there are exceptions even to this “rule.” There are some works, and some performers, who truly take your breath away, even before they’re “done.” That’s one of the true joys of the live concert experience – you never know when your breath may be taken away. And there’s nothing that says that a pulse-pounding performance of the opening movement of a work cannot move you to applaud – even before the whole work is done. If you are so moved, chances are at least some of your other concert-goers will be too – and applause would not be unwelcome in such circumstances.

Recording devices of any kind, audio, video or photographic, are NOT permitted at Edmonton Symphony performances. Cameras, cell phones and other recording devices are best left at coat check. If you need to be available to someone during the performance (a babysitter, or if you are on call), let our front of house staff know where you are sitting, and they can alert you.

The Winspear Centre has a number of stations in operation pre-show and during intermission. Bars, coffee bars, dessert stations and a martini bar are waiting for you. A good bet for intermission is to pre-order your drink before the show, and it will be waiting for you, so you can avoid lining up during the break.