‘NIGHT OF THE AVANTE GARDE’ TO COMMEMORATE DANIEL LIBESKIND’S MICHAEL LEE-CHIN CRYSTAL AT THE ROM

Event to Feature North American Premiere of ‘Music Space Reflection’ by Simon Bainbridge

(Toronto, Ontario – May 20, 2008) The Night of the Avant Garde, a unique fundraising event, will take place on Thursday, June 12, 2008 from 8 pm to 11 pm at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). The North American premiere of Music Space Reflection by Simon Bainbridge, one of the United Kingdom’s leading contemporary composers, is an exciting component of the event. Guests will also be treated to a moveable feast and a full and multi-sensational experience of video, fashion, cuisine and music. This special evening commemorates the completion of Daniel Libeskind’s Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the ROM.

Music Space Reflection, jointly commissioned by the ROM (generously supported by the late Elizabeth Samuel and ROM Director & CEO William Thorsell) and Manchester, England’s Imperial War Museum North (where the piece debuted in April 2007) is Bainbridge’s celebration of the architecture of Daniel Libeskind. Conducted by the composer himself, the piece will be performed by 24 musicians from CONTACT contemporary music, a Toronto collective of composers and performers, as well as David Sheppard of London’s Sound Intermedia on electronic instrument. The unique sound experience, augmented by the latest in lighting and digital projections, will occur on four separate platforms and be amplified by 24 custom-designed speakers, spatially arrayed throughout the ROM’s Hyacinth Gloria Chen Crystal Court. Guests are encouraged to wander through the Gloria Chen Court during the performance which will be introduced by Simon Bainbridge in conversation with Daniel Libeskind.

The Night of the Avant Garde will be an extraordinary evening. Other innovative musical compositions by influential creators including Philip Glass, Brian Eno and 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music winner David Lang will also be performed by CONTACT. Adding to the evening will be border-breaking fashions by Toronto designer Ula Zukowska, imaginative lighting and video works by the ROM's New Media Lab and Ed Wall, inventive cuisine by Restaurant Associates with Chef Caesar Guinto and libations including, of course, the Museum’s signature drink, the ROMtini. The event publicly marks the completion of the permanent galleries of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, as well as the building’s other detailed elements one year following its June 2007 Architectural Opening.

The Night of the Avant Garde also honors CIBC's sponsorship of the Lee-Chin Crystal's inaugural season. CIBC has been the ROM's bank of record since the Museum's inception and both organizations have benefited tremendously from this partnership. “CIBC’s tradition of supporting the ROM dates back to 1912, when Sir Edmund Walker, head of CIBC, served as the Museum’s founding Chairman,” said Gerry McCaughey, President and Chief executive officer of CIBC. ”We are proud to have built on this legacy as the ROM’s inaugural season sponsor as it enters this exciting new phase in its history.”

Tickets to this fundraising event are $180 for ROM Members and $200 for the General Public. A tax receipt will be issued for the maximum allowable amount. For tickets and additional information, visit www.rom.on.ca/avantgarde, contact programs@rom.on.ca or phone 416.586.5797.

CONTACT:     Royal Ontario Museum: Marilynne Friedman
                     + 416.586.5826, marilynf@rom.on.ca

                     Studio Daniel Libeskind:  Lynn Krogh
                     + 212.497.9114/ +917.378.9302
                     PublicRelations@daniel-libeskind.com