The time to build a Vancouver Performing Arts Center is now. The pandemic has clearly highlighted the need. While we season ticket holders of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra are grateful to Vancouver Public Schools for past performance space at Skyview High School’s auditorium, this fall the symphony has had to perform at the Newmark in Portland and at ilani. Salvador Brotons, our internationally respected conductor from Barcelona, Spain, has shaped the symphony into a superb regional orchestra that attracts the highest caliber of artists from around the world. It is time for our symphony to have a permanent home.
Music is the universal language that speaks to all peoples across time, cultures and geography. The visual and performing arts (live music, theater, dance, etc.) are what make us more human and create opportunities for deeper understanding and respect among peoples. The beauty of the arts brings joy and health to the soul. A performing arts center is an indoor park for the mind and soul. Smaller cities like Newport, Ore., have performing arts centers that accommodate different arts with adaptable sound systems and flexible space. Please, city leaders, make a Vancouver performing arts center the heart of new development.
