The National Arts Centre (NAC) marked the 100^th Birthday of the late Hamilton Southam at a concert dedicated to his memory on December 14, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. in Southam Hall.

Mr. Southam would have turned 100 on December 19, 2016.

The NAC will also dedicate one new commission of Music, Dance or Theatre each year for the  next five years to commemorate Mr. Southam’s role as the NAC’s founder and first Director General.

“We are indebted to Hamilton Southam for his vision and drive to build the National Arts Centre as a Centennial project. He was named Director General of the NAC in 1967, and oversaw the construction of the building and the creation of a new national home for the performing arts in Canada. As we reach towards Canada’s 150^th Anniversary, we believe it is fitting to celebrate Mr. Southam’s contribution by naming one commission of Music, Dance or Theatre in his memory each year in the coming years,” said  Peter A. Herrndorf, the President and CEO of the National Arts Centre.

Mr. Southam led an extraordinary life, he was a war hero in Italy, a journalist in London and Ottawa, a diplomat in Stockholm, the Canadian Ambassador to Poland, a Senior Public Servant in Ottawa, and the founding Director General of the National Arts Centre, a post he occupied brilliantly for the first 10 years of the NAC’s existence.

In retirement, he was a leading voice for the creation of the Canadian War Museum, and a series of distinctive busts known as The Valiants Memorial, a military monument located at Ottawa’s Sapper’s Bridge which commemorates fourteen key figures who played a leading role in Canadian military history.

As the National Arts Centre undergoes significant renovations to mark Canada’s 150^th Anniversary we remember those who built our institution as a Centennial project in the 1960s. The National Arts Centre is indebted to Hamilton Southam, and has dedicated several important spaces and initiatives in his memory over the years including naming its most important 2,000 seat venue Southam Hall in 2000, and the Southam Club in 2010, a group of more than 100 young leaders in business, the arts, and public service who are dedicated to building the performing arts at the NAC.  

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Rosemary Thompson Director of Communications National Arts Centre613 947-7000, ext 560 carl.martin@nac-cna.ca