Chan Shun Concert Hall

The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts is located on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is situated within the natural landscape of the campus and is surrounded by evergreens and rhododendrons. This state of the art performing arts venue holds the 1,200-seat Chan Shun Concert Hall, the flexible-seating Telus Studio Theatre, the 160-seat Royal Bank Cinema, the Great Performers Lounge, and a glass lobby. Completed in 1997, the Chan Centre hosts classes, rehearsals and performances for a variety of the UBC departments of music, film and theatre as well as a diverse, yearly performing arts season that attracts audiences from all over the Lower Mainland.

The creation of the Chan Centre was made possible by an initial donation from two brothers and businessmen, Tom and Caleb Chan. This was the largest private donation to a cultural institution in Canadian history at the time. The Chan brothers also donated additional funds in order to set up an endowment fund which, through the interest revenue that it generates, supports many arts organizations and diverse performances at the local, national and international level.

The Chan brothers are philanthropists, businessmen and Christians. Their father, Chan Shun, worked his way up in the business world, from sewing in a shirt factory to eventually becoming the head of the Crocodile shirt company. His sons were strongly influenced by his morals and generosity and in the 1980s, after immigrating to Canada, they decided to give back to their new country by helping to build an educational arts facility at UBC. They approached president David Strangway (president of UBC from 1985–1997) and made the proposal, and soon, the concept for a performing arts centre was in motion.

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