Massey Hall History
1890’s – 1920’s

In 1892, industrial baron Hart Massey (1823-96) bought land at Shuter and Victoria Streets and hired architect Sidney Badgley to design a memorial to his son Charles Albert Massey. Massey intended his "gift to aid in the development of the arts" to be "an auditorium -- spacious, substantial and comfortable, where public meetings, conventions, musical and other entertainments, etc., could be given."

Massey Hall soon became internationally famous as Canada's most important venue for concerts and lectures, attracting many of the world's leading celebrities; it also hosted weddings, movies, boxing matches, beauty contests, religious and political rallies, typing contests and chess tournaments. Declared a "heritage" building during the 1970s, Massey Hall remains a vital part of Toronto's cultural and entertainment scene.

September 21, 1893
Cornerstone laid.

June 14, 1894
A five-concert festival inaugurates the 3,500-seat "Massey Music Hall". The first concert on June 14 features Handel's Messiah performed by a 500-member chorus with the 70-member "Grand Festival Orchestra" conducted by Frederick Torrington.

January 15, 1895
The newly formed Mendelssohn Choir performs its first concert, conducted by its founder Augustus Vogt.

June 21, 1897
The Toronto Philharmonic Society performs in honour of Queen Victoria's Jubilee.

October 10, 1901
The New York Symphony performs the Royal Concert under Walter Damrosch in honour of the visiting Duke of Cornwall and York and his wife (the future George V and Queen Mary). The royal couple and Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier arrive late, during an aria by opera superstar Emma Calvi; who is interrupted as the orchestra suddenly switches to “God Save the King”.

1903
61-year-old opera diva Adelina Patti performs her farewell concert, setting the highest records for ticket prices ($5) and her fee ($10,000).

1904
The fire escapes on the Victoria Street side of the hall are replaced after a fire destroys half of lower downtown Toronto.

April 1904
During the annual Methodists' Festival of the Lilies, 10-year-old prodigy Ernest MacMillan plays the Massey Hall organ, his first performance in a Massey Hall career that would stretch over the next six decades.

February 25, 1908
Robert Peary tells a packed house of his quest for the North Pole.

May 4, 1908
Tenor Enrico Caruso makes his Toronto debut.

December 1908
On-stage wedding of Canadian marathon champion, Tom Longboat to Lauretta Maracle.

1909
The American Federation of Labor holds its North American convention and re-elects Samuel Gompers, who is presented onstage with a telegram instructing him to report to a U.S. prison for contempt of court.

October 20, 1910
Prima ballerina Anna Pavlova and her troupe perform Adam's Giselle.

1911
Sir Edward Elgar conducts the Sheffield Choir.

1915
Repeat screenings of D.W. Griffith's epic film Birth of a Nation

1917
The Albert Building, adjacent to the Hall and owned by the Massey estate, is connected to the main structure to provide needed space for dressing rooms and offices.

February 18, 1918
British choirmaster Herbert Fricker takes over the Mendelssohn Choir. At his first concert he shares the podium with his young friend Leopold Stokowski who brings along the Philadelphia Orchestra.

April 12, 1919
Shortly before winning the world heavyweight championship, Jack Dempsey referees preliminary bouts onstage and spars in an exhibition match.

1919-1921
Boxing and wrestling out-rent all other forms of entertainment by 3 to 1.

1920
One year before his death, Enrico Caruso returns and sets a new Massey Hall box office record of $70,000. He goes outside onto the fire escape to sing an aria to the crowd that couldn't get in.

January 28, 1921
Arturo Toscanini conducts the La Scala Orchestra.

April 23, 1923
The 58-member New Symphony Orchestra, later renamed the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, debuts under the baton of Luigi von Kunitz. Ticket prices range from 25¢ to 75¢; players receive $3.95 each.

November

Massey Hall History 1890’s – 1920’s

Massey Hall History
1890’s – 1920’s