Gathering Under the Dome: Solo Violin and the Ghost of an Architectural Masterpiece

Monday, September 29, 2025 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

• In-person event
• 290 Lisgar St , Ottawa , ON , K2P 0G8
• Cost: 00

• Contact
• Peter Coffman, peter.coffman@carleton.ca, 613-520-2600 x8797

Toronto’s beautiful, historic St. Anne’s Church burned down in June 2024. But thanks to a Toronto musician and an Ottawa building, its story continues.

St. Anne’s was the queen of Toronto architecture, renowned for its elegant Byzantine style, majestic dome, decoration by some of Canada’s most important artists (including members of the Group of Seven), and superb acoustics.

When the COVID-19 lockdown was at its darkest, violinist and composer Anne Lindsay sought solace in St. Anne’s. She isolated herself beneath its dome and recorded a suite of pieces that became an album called Soloworks 2. By the time the album was ready to release, St. Anne’s had burned down – a horrendous loss for Canadian heritage.

The music of Soloworks 2 was, literally, made for St. Anne’s. But no audience ever heard it performed there, and none ever will. That’s where the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre (CDCC) comes in.

The CDCC is in many ways an Ottawa doppelgänger of St. Anne’s – a transcendent space beneath a Byzantine dome, renowned for its beauty and outstanding acoustics. 

On September 29th, Anne Lindsay will perform music from Soloworks 2 in Ottawa at the CDCC. This will place the music where it belongs, in a beautiful and resonant heritage building. It will be the performance that no one got to hear at St. Anne’s.