Banff Centre
Encyclopedia
The Banff Centre, formerly known as The Banff Centre for Continuing Education, is an arts
, cultural, and educational institution and conference complex located in Banff
, Alberta
. The Banff Centre is part of Alberta's post-secondary educational system, and offers programs in the performing
and fine arts, and leadership
training.
The Banff Centre was founded in 1933 by the University of Alberta
as an experimental theatre school and became known as the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1935. By 1936, music became an important part of the program and remains so today. The Banff International String Quartet Competition was established in 1983 and the Banff Festival of the Arts, established in 1971, has seen several Canadian premieres including Michael Daugherty
's opera Jackie O
, John Metcalf
's Kafka's Chimp and Jonathan Dove
's Siren Song. In 1947 the centre moved from the town of Banff to its present location on Tunnel Mountain
in Banff National Park
. Although the centre operates year round, its summer school is Canada's oldest major summer school of the arts. During Metcalf's period as artistic director of the department of music theatre in Banff, he workshopped a number of operas, including his own Tornrak
, and in recent years the Centre has supported the creation of a number of new Canadian operas including Filumena Marturano
, and Frobisher
In addition to its arts programming, conferences were introduced in 1953 and management
programs in 1954. In 2003, mathematics
programs were also introduced.
In December 2008, the name was officially changed to "The Banff Centre." The Centre has full autonomy as a non-degree-granting educational institution under the governance of an appointed board.
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
, cultural, and educational institution and conference complex located in Banff
Banff, Alberta
Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise....
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. The Banff Centre is part of Alberta's post-secondary educational system, and offers programs in the performing
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
and fine arts, and leadership
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
training.
The Banff Centre was founded in 1933 by the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
as an experimental theatre school and became known as the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1935. By 1936, music became an important part of the program and remains so today. The Banff International String Quartet Competition was established in 1983 and the Banff Festival of the Arts, established in 1971, has seen several Canadian premieres including Michael Daugherty
Michael Daugherty
Michael Kevin Daugherty is an American composer, pianist, and teacher. Influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism, Daugherty is one of the most colorful and widely performed American concert music composers of his generation...
's opera Jackie O
Jackie O (opera)
Jackie O is a chamber opera in two acts composed by Michael Daugherty to a libretto by Wayne Koestenbaum. The 90 minute work, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera in 1995 and premiered in 1997, is inspired by American musical and popular culture of the late 1960s and episodes in the life of...
, John Metcalf
John Metcalf (composer)
John Metcalf is a British and Canadian composer. He has worked in many forms, including large-scale operas, choral and orchestral works, and a great deal of chamber music, both instrumental and vocal...
's Kafka's Chimp and Jonathan Dove
Jonathan Dove
Jonathan Dove is a British composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera , including in 1990 a famous 18-player two-evening adaptation of Wagner's Der Ring des...
's Siren Song. In 1947 the centre moved from the town of Banff to its present location on Tunnel Mountain
Tunnel Mountain
Tunnel Mountain is a mountain located in the Bow River Valley of Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. The mountain is nearly completely encircled by the town of Banff and the Banff Springs Hotel grounds.-History:...
in Banff National Park
Banff National Park
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...
. Although the centre operates year round, its summer school is Canada's oldest major summer school of the arts. During Metcalf's period as artistic director of the department of music theatre in Banff, he workshopped a number of operas, including his own Tornrak
Tornrak
Tornrak is the third opera by Welsh composer John Metcalf. It has an English-language libretto by Michael Wilcox with Inuktitut sections translated by Blendina Makkik. Set between the worlds of the Canadian Arctic and Victorian Britain, it features Inuit throat singing and other extended vocal...
, and in recent years the Centre has supported the creation of a number of new Canadian operas including Filumena Marturano
Filumena Marturano
Filumena Marturano is a play written in 1946 by Italian playwright and philosopher Eduardo De Filippo.-Plot:The curtain opens on Domenico Soriano, 50, a wealthy Neapolitan shop-keeper who is raging against Filumena, 48, a former prostitute...
, and Frobisher
Frobisher
Frobisher may refer to:In places:*Frobisher, Saskatchewan* Frobisher Bay, a bay in Baffin Island, named after Martin Frobisher* Frobisher Bay, the former name of a town in Baffin Island, Canada, now known as Iqaluit...
In addition to its arts programming, conferences were introduced in 1953 and management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
programs in 1954. In 2003, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
programs were also introduced.
In December 2008, the name was officially changed to "The Banff Centre." The Centre has full autonomy as a non-degree-granting educational institution under the governance of an appointed board.
External links
- banffcentre.ca - official site
- birs - Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery