Before You’re Here

We perform at the Carleton Dominion Chalmers Center on 355 Cooper St, Ottawa, ON. here

We invite you to visit the venue’s webpage here for more information on parking, bus, and accessibility.

Yes, it is! Please let our box office (info@ottawapopsorchestra.ca) know that you need accessible seating, and we will gladly assign you one.

We suggest arriving at least 20 minutes before the show to give you some time to find your seat. Some arrive even earlier to relax, chat, or enjoy a drink at the intermission bar (non-alcoholic beverages available). We recommend pre-purchasing your tickets and drinks online to reduce wait times for yourself and others.

The Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre’s natural acoustic has made it a premier venue for live music and theatrical performances in Ottawa. Any seat can be a good seat depending on your preference! Sitting near the orchestra gets you closer to the action, while the balcony gives a wider top-down view.

We welcome you to dress in your preferred attire. We want you to be comfortable, and you’ll see many people dressed casually. However, if our concert’s theme inspires you, feel free to express yourself! Costumes and cosplays are highly encouraged. You might just see some of our performers dressed up too!

The music for every show is posted on the concert’s event page that you can find here.

Clap when you like what you hear! It is also part of the orchestra tradition to clap whenever the concertmaster (first violin) or conductor (person with the stick) walks on stage.

Yes! In fact, we encourage it! We ask that you put your phone in silent mode and turn the flash off. Feel free to share and tag us on social media (#ottawapops)!

Wine, beer, non-alcoholic cocktails, sodas and snacks will be available to purchase at the bar. Please note that food and drinks are not permitted in the concert hall and must be consumed before returning to your seat. We encourage you to pre-purchase your drinks at checkout when you purchase your ticket, or at one of the mobile point of sales on site.

Our mission is to redefine the orchestral experience: we love finding innovative ways to engage our audience during the show. Past shows have featured smoke machines, trivia, contests, prizes, and Mario Kart competitions with live orchestral backing. One thing we can guarantee is an experience you won’t soon forget.

During the show, you can expect the conductor and other orchestra representatives to tell you the story of the music between the pieces. Performances are often accompanied by video to give you a full audio-visual experience.

Besides the main performance, you can expect concessions available on site. You’ll also often find activities and/or background music to entertain you as you stretch your legs and mingle before the show and during intermission.

We care about the audience of the future and recognize concerts can leave an environmental footprint. That is why we are committed to adopting sustainable practices wherever we can.

Our current efforts are in reducing paper use. Our concert programs are digital-only and are accessible on our website. For marketing and promotion, we have also significantly reduced our use of printed material like posters and pamphlets in favor of digital media. While we don’t mandate it, we’ve noticed our musicians have increasingly adopted digital instead of printed sheet music.

We encourage you to join us in this commitment to minimize the environmental footprint of our events. Please consider taking public transportation or ride sharing instead of driving alone.

An orchestra is a kind of large instrumental ensemble, which is what we call a group of several musicians who play musical instruments together. It usually consists of a specific combination of instruments that are grouped and seated in specific areas. The three main instrument groups (or families) in the orchestra are the strings, winds, and percussion.

Strings are the instruments that use strings and a bow to make sound, like the violin and the cello. They are usually seated at the front nearest to the conductor.

Winds are the instruments that need a musician’s breath to make sound. They are further divided into woodwinds and brass according to the materials that were traditionally used to make them. The musicians who play the winds sit in two rows behind the strings: the woodwinds in the middle, and the brass on both sides.

The percussion section includes many different kinds of instruments that are struck or shaken to make sound. They are placed at the back of the orchestra.

Orchestras usually perform Classical music, but the Ottawa Pops Orchestra is different. The “pops” in our name means that we perform popular music. While you may hear the occasional Classical piece in our concert, we mainly perform music with a broad popular appeal, like music from the movies, musical theatre or even video games!

We always send an email before the concerts to remind our audience of important information. Come join our mailing list at the bottom of this page to stay in the loop! You can also follow our social media accounts linked below.