The redevelopment of 68,000 square feet of Taché Hall for Music, along with 90,000 square feet of new construction, is creating new inviting spaces filled with light that both preserve the campus’s historic buildings and introduce state-of-the-art facilities for students.
Facilities
This is a place for discovery – renewed, expanded and ready for you to explore. A stunning transformation of our facilities has created an impressive performing arts complex, with state-of-the-art spaces and equipment.
Creative collaboration: The Taché Arts Project
The Taché Arts Project is bringing the Desautels Faculty of Music, School of Art and our theatre program together at one site, encouraging creative collaboration between music, theatre and visual art students and faculty.
Desautels Concert Hall
The Desautels Concert Hall will be a state-of-the art, intimate performance venue in the heart of the Fort Garry campus. It has been designed for a broad range of university and community events.
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The Desautels Concert Hall will be a two-tiered, 407-seat venue, configurable in three ways:
- A large stage for orchestral groups.
- A small stage for jazz ensembles, chamber groups and voice recitals.
- A proscenium for theatre and dance performances.
Other technical features include catwalks over the stage to allow for rigging scenery or adding lighting and draperies and a technical booth at the back of hall.
Patrons will enjoy the hall’s spacious, light-filled lobby and a concession area.
The Desautels Concert Hall is slated to open in the fall of 2024.
Location: Attached to the Taché Arts Complex
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Eckhardt-Gramatté Music Library
As a unit of the UM Libraries, the music library provides a vast range of print, recorded and electronic resources to UM students, faculty and staff and to members of the public.
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The Eckhardt-Gramatté Music Library, located inside the Taché Arts Complex, supports study, research and performance at the University of Manitoba.
The library is open for faculty, students and staff with the following hours:
Monday to Friday, 8:30 - 4:30 pm.
Visit the Eckhardt-Gramatté Music Library
Please contact us for general inquiries and assistance.
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Library amenities
Scores
- More than 22,000 print scores, including solo music, duet to nonet ensemble scores and large- and mini-format study scores
- Online access to digital score databases such as Naxos Sheet Music Library and Classical Scores Library
- Manitoba composers collection
Audiovisual recordings
- 10,500 hard copy recordings on CD, DVD, VHS and LP
- Faculty of Music Recital Collection – recital recordings dating back to the mid-1970s
- Online access to streaming databases for live performances and films through databases such as Opera in Video, Medici.tv and Kanopy
Books and journals
- Reading, research, and reference materials available at Music Library. Pedagogical materials available both in house and in the Education Collection at Dafoe Library.
- Extensive e-book collection (over 75,000 titles relating to music)
- Access to music journals available through databases: Music Periodicals Database, Music Index, RILM
Physical library
- Six dedicated listening stations and one private viewing station
- Six Windows machines and two iMacs equipped with Finale and MacGamut 6
- 11x17 scanner
- Meeting room for reservation that seats up to six people
- Printers and copiers (black and white, colour)
Additional library services
- Librarian’s page on researching and writing: A guide to music-specific research and writing techniques
- Project development: Students can make an appointment with our Music Librarian to get started on assignments and develop their ideas for writing research papers, program notes, grant proposals, etc.
- Document delivery: Users can borrow from other libraries for free
- Citation assistance: A guide for citing using the Chicago style, which includes citation examples of many different formats including scores, sound/video recordings, the Grove dictionary (print and online), websites, blogs and more.
Practice rooms
These 40 spacious, light-filled rooms are a delight.
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Each practice room features either a piano - usually a Yamaha or Kawai - and has acoustic panelling for optimum sound quality. Two designated jazz ensemble rooms are equipped with a piano and full drum kit. Rooms are humidity-controlled, with humidity levels checked at regular intervals. Thermostats allow students to adjust the temperature for their comfort.
- Onsite temperature- and humidity-controlled secure instrument lockers are available for reservation by music students.
- A nearby kitchen and communal area provide students with opportunity to take restorative breaks during practice sessions.
- To keep students safe, access to the fourth floor is controlled by swipe card.
To reserve a practice room: Music students reserve a practice room each term, according to the hours that work best for them.
Location: Fourth floor, Taché Arts Complex
Rehearsal rooms
Our three large rehearsal rooms are excellently equipped and used for a variety of purposes. All rehearsal spaces feature acoustic panelling to ensure excellent sound quality, a built-in sound system, projection capabilities and remote-control blackout blinds.
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Vocal Arts Room
This room is a frequently used space for workshops, masterclasses, small jazz ensemble performances, Desautels Chamber Opera performances and faculty performances. It features built-in risers for either choral rehearsals or audience seating.
Location: Second floor, Taché Arts Complex
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Jazz Ensemble Room
The Jazz Ensemble Room is suitable for a full jazz orchestra, has built-in recording capabilities, and is a frequently used space for jazz masterclasses, guest performances and academic classes.
Location: Second floor, Taché Arts Complex
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Large Ensemble Room
This rehearsal space is suitable for a full-orchestra, wind ensemble or concert band and is a frequently used space for workshops and group classes. It is directly connected to the Desautels Recording Studio, with built-in recording capabilities.
Location: First floor, Taché Arts Complex
Desautels recording studio
The studio features the highest-quality equipment to accommodate the most complex and creative recording demands.
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The Desautels Faculty of Music's recording studio is a Pro Tools-based studio housed in the Taché Arts Complex.
The studio boasts a unique design in which the control room is patched to multiple rehearsal rooms in both analog and digital protocols. This allows the client to take advantage of the distinct acoustics in each room, all which have been designed to provide a desired balance of absorption, diffusion, and reverb. This feature gives clients the freedom to choose a recording space according to their sound and space needs.
We invite students to explore the recording production options that we offer.
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Book a consultation: Please contact our in-house technician Adam Mlodzinski at Kenneth.Mlodzinski@umanitoba.ca.
Location: First floor, Taché Arts Complex
Professional Recordings
Students can book professional recordings for auditions, competitions, etc. Bookings need to be arranged at least two weeks in advance and are subject to the availability of the recording technician.
- Student submits the Recording Booking form to the main office.
- Select one (1) of the DFOM recording packages available. (Please see the Recording Packages document for details)
- Facilities coordinator will confirm the date and location with the student directly.
- DFOM Recording technician will contact the student to arrange the recording.
Recordings will take place at DFOM facilities, including Eva Clare Hall. This does not include any other facility at the University of Manitoba such as St. John’s College, or off-campus facilities.
MAC Lab
The MAC Lab (located in room T1-106) offers 6 computer stations equipped with Reaper and DaVinci Resolve software to help facilitate post-production for both audio and video.
The MAC Lab (located in room T-377) offers 16 computer stations equipped with Sibelius, Finale, Garage band, and Audacity.
If you need additional guidance for editing and mixing, please contact the DFOM Recording Technician @ Kenneth.Mlodzinski@umanitoba.ca.
Studio amenities
Mic preamps
- Universal Audio 2-610
- Great River MP-2NV (x2)
- API Mic A2D
- Grace Audio m802 (x3)
Monitoring
- Genelec 8351A DSP Speakers
- Genelec 7360A Sub Subwoofer
Control surface
- Avid Artist Mix System
- Avid Artist Transport Control
Digital
- Avid HD OMNI
- Avid HD MADI
- RME MADI Router
- RME MADI M-16 AD
- Antelope Isochrone OCX clock
CPU
- iMac(Retina 5K, 27 inch, 2017)
- Processor4.2Ghz Intel Core i7
- Memory64 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
- Startup DiskMacHD
Microphones
- Neumann U67 (original) x2
- AKG C24 (orginal)
- Audio Technica 4033 x2
- Shure SM81 x4
- Shure SM57 x2
- Shure SM58 x2
- Sennheiser 421 x2
- Audix MI250B (with boom system) x 4
Creative learning spaces: labs, studios and more
Explore our wide-range of musical spaces, where students are free to create, study and collaborate.
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Multimedia lab
A reconfigurable workspace for installation development, rehearsal, performance, recording, composition-related seminars and other creative projects.
This is a frequently used space for interactive installations. Lab features:
- Two built-in speakers
- Digital mixer
- Patch bays for expanded input and output options
- Built-in data projector, projection screen, and remote-control blackout blinds
- A collection of microphones and other electronic devices, available to composition students as needed
- Acoustic paneling for excellent sound quality
Location: First floor, Taché Arts Complex
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Studio FLAT computer music studio
Studio FLAT is a computer music studio that supports a variety of projects involving music technology, such as electroacoustic and computer music, live electronics music and multi media installations.
The studio room is purpose built with an octophonic loudspeaker set up. It provides a variety of hardware that includes:
- Digital mixing console (Yamaha)
- Control surface (Mackie)
- Various MIDI controllers (KAT percussion and mallet KAT)
- Software such as Ableton Live, Max, Digital Performer, and IRCAM-based software
Location: Second floor, Taché Arts Complex
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Percussion studio
This facility includes a main studio and two practice rooms designated for percussion student practice. It features a full complement of percussion equipment and instruments for students to use. Acoustic paneling provides excellent sound quality.
Location: First floor, Taché Arts Complex
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Yamaha keyboard lab
To build their musicianship and piano skills, all non-piano majors in the Desautels Faculty of Music take lessons in our Yamaha keyboard lab, which offers individualized instruction within a small group setting.
Noise-cancelling headphones allow students to hear their practice and progress, and the Yamaha keyboards used offer students realistic, touch-sensitive piano-playing capabilities.
Location: Third floor, Taché Arts Complex
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Carl Orff Canada National Archives and Orff lending library
The Desautels Faculty of Music is the site of the Carl Orff Canada National Archives –significant because Carl Orff is the most trusted and cited name in childhood music education. In the lending library, music scores and music education and pedagogy literature are available to Desautels Faculty of Music students and Manitoba Orff Association members.
Location: First floor, Taché Arts Complex
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Graduate student offices
All graduate students have access to secured space in one of our shared graduate offices for study and research. The offices feature internet hook-up and multiple outlets, and individual desks with privacy panels. They are accessible only to graduate students and are secured by key entry.
Location: First floor, Taché Arts Complex
Contact us
Desautels Faculty of Music
Room 319, Taché Hall
150 Dafoe Road
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada
204-474-9310
204-474-7546