Bell Studio Reviews

Very unique place , services were super !
Staffs were sincere and knowledgeable. Good job ! We will be back soon.
Big thank you to you all !

A must do when visiting Calgary. The center is rich in information about Canadian musical culture, while being fun. There are many instruments.

Underwhelming and expensive. The children's exhibits/regions are limited to one small room, and are no more than a basic kindergarten setup. Very little to do considering the size of the building. A strong bias towards pop music, and classical music is given only token references.

We had relatives in town, and wanted to show off one of Calgary's unique attractions. Many places have zoos, museums, and fine public art. There's nothing quite like this place! It would be practically impossible for somebody to walk through this place without getting some sort of emotional music-related memory. The information displays and panels have just enough information to educate, not too much to become boring. They have hundreds of fascinating artifacts like musical instruments, costumes, etc. And it's all wrapped up in one of Calgary's most stunning architectural masterpieces. Our relatives were very impressed.

My first time here - and it didn t disappoint! Lots to read and checkout, with a focus on Canadian music and musicians. Our kids enjoyed the hands-on sections, as some of the sections I enjoyed involved more reading. Would love to catch a concert or event in this space. The architecture alone is worth a trip.

Great interactive and informative museum, would highly recommend! A Calgary must see!

Super cool space, beauuutttiful architecture and great for music lovers. There isn't much to do in Calgary so this is definitely one of the things to do if you're looking for something to do in the area.

We did the 1 hour tour (they have the schedule online so proper planning ahead of time), it was fun, but not necessary. Depending how slow and fast you are going to do this, the whole place can take about 1hr-3hours. There is a lot of reading (we mainly skipped) and a lot of interactive fun things to tinker with.

You absolutely must go to theatrical organ playing (check the schedule), it's really cool and fun and it shows you how music was made back in the day for movies with 1 giant instrument and a masterful musician.

This place is just freaking amazing. 5 floors of gorgeous architecture, so much musical history, tons of interactive activities to go through. Also tons of concerts and shows playing every week. Must go here!!

A must-see shrine to Canadian music culture. Total re-design of the old, trashed King Eddy Hotel. The architecture alone is worth the admission. You'll need at least 3 hours...Many fun and interactive displays (like instruments you can actually play with!)

Really cool place! Something to check out when traveling for sure. Can spend over 2 hour here easily! There was a demonstration of the organ on the third level and it was beautiful. Never hear so many kinds of notes and sounds come from an old instrument like this! The history of the organ is really cool too! Overall it's a great time. You can interact with some of the exhibits too so you can bring your kids along and they won't be as bored! Parking near by is cheap, spacious, and close by! So there is nothing to worry about! There are also student discounts for a cheaper ticket, you just have to present them your student card!

Check out the theatre organ show!
The building is beautiful - inside and out.

My only regret was that I didn't have more time to explore. It is a true gem unique to Calgary.

Brings back fond memories, nostalgia. All the great Canadian musicians info at your fingertips.

Perfect place where you can get hands on experience as well as some historical background. You should not miss kimball show.

Gorgeous architecture. Many interesting exhibits. Will return.

I would go everyday if I could. So much fun!! Lots of instruments to play, musicians to learn about and music to explore. I felt so at home and the staff were friendly and helpful.

A best place to experience Canadian artist contribution to music industry. Lot of data on evolution of music industry over the century. A true music lover will love it and the structure of studio is an added flavor to enjoy

Amazing, informative, interactive and the $10 dates nights are AWESOME

Really cool history of music and the spot lights are nice with local talent.

Like a music museum. I think it would be good to make a program that children can participate in.

We visited NMC on the Family Day of 2017. There was a huge line-up outside the building because of the event/promotion. The estimated waiting time was 1.5 to 2 hours. Quite a few people in the line brought up very good suggestions to the staff in order to resolve/alleviate the situation. The staff, however, remained stubborn and refused to take/adapt to any suggestions. It made sense, nonetheless, that it was easy for them not to take any actions, and it was not them but the visitors and children who were suffering in the cold wind after all. We gave up after 50 minutes' waiting and left in great disappointment.

A gem in the East Village, which will only continue to get better with time!

I had a great and fun experience at the studio. I highly recommend this place to all music lovers.

Amazing architecture. I can imagine people could go for a fun date there.

So I came here for Geddy Lee's bass collection. I left with a 64-track cd from an American man named Doug. I saw the Buchla Box, dude. THE Buchla Box. I ran around the place like a child trying to play every instrument. I played the bass for 30 minutes straight. 10/10

So many interesting, interactive exhibits. Check out the theatre organ demo!

Super interactive and very fun for the whole family. I feel like a lot of good Canadian bands and singers have been left out but I understand that there is a lot to cover. When I was there two of the interactive installations were not working.

Interesting, involving, educational and fun. For all ages, will be going back.

We went there for work event. Great place to take kids if they are interested in music and history of music.

Can't believe i waited so long to check this out. Great for any music lover. I highly recommend checking out the organ demonstration!

The live demos are truly amazing and well worth the price of admission. Unguided experience is pretty limited and strangely museum like for a place that is about music. But the facility is clearly designed as a cool backdrop for music events, and for that it's an inspired and beautiful place.

It was quite fun, unfortunately some of the exhibits were broken or not working right. The organ demonstration was awesome though.

If you are interested in music this place is very cool! If you're not, it's still pretty neat.

Very nice architecture in Downtown Calgary with many interesting exhibits. Even demonstrated the integration of technology and music.

Although this is a great place for music, I take acceptation to the greed of the board of directors and management. A good number of the people you see at events are volunteers, giving their time to help make this place a success. A good number of Calgary's elite have donated great sums of money to assist in this venture. However, I find the management a little on the greedy side. The volunteers are asked to give additional monetary donations, as if their time is not enough. Also, any tips given to volunteers are forfeited back to Studio Bell. That is fine, except my complaint is when I give a person a tip for good service, server, coat check, bar tender, I am giving that person a monetary thank you, not the management. Also, I have been told the tip jars are put out by the Management. This seems deceitful and greedy to me. Lets thank the volunteers for their hard work and efforts.

Studio Bell is truly a National Treasure! It is so gorgeous and well designed. It has a beautiful performance area for live performances. It can hold approximately 235 people comfortably.
The lighting and design of the building is truly unique. What a wonderful location to celebrate Canadian music. There is much to learn and celebrate.
Beverly Mahood and Company put on a wonderfully intimate show to raise money and awareness for the Calgary Seniors Resource Society.

Absolutely stunning architecture but the exhibits were underwhelming and the staff lacked enthusiasm and passion

Brilliant exhibition and collection. Totally recommended if you visit Calgary.

Had a great time at this beautiful building today. Learned some neat things about Canadian music history and enjoyed a choir performance. Sundays are cheaper admissions. Website is easy to navigate and has an event schedule you can look at.

Very cool place. Great architecture. Kids like it too. Questionable how they choose the collections. Maybe they change over time but lots of people missing from the pantheon of Canadian music. I guess we'll have to go back and see!

Great visit, gorgeous building and interesting exhibits

Fun and informative for both adults and kids. My favorite parts of the museum are the interactive instruments (pianos and other instruments that you can try) especially the theramin!

I went for their valentines day event and it makes a fun date night for musicians, music-lovers, and museum-goers.

Amazing place to visit. There is a lot to do for all ages, the various levels have a very unique set up. A lot of music history, can easily spend most of the morning or even most of the day here. In addition to the what's in the building, the building itself is very interesting as well.

It was a good place to start to get to know Canada s music. You get to experience to use some of the instruments. There s only free guided tours on specific hours.

Super nice center for those who love music. Extremely beautiful building, very well located which gives an incredible atmosphere to the visitor.

Had a lot of fun. Very interactive great architecture. Really enjoyed it.

Gorgeous building and interactive floor is entertaining HOWEVER, I have seen more memorabilia at a pawn shop.

Such great Canadian Music history. And a great place for kids!

The place is very beautiful, ideal for music lovers. It has some areas to interact with instruments as well as a very wide collection of all kinds of instruments some medieval. The architecture is very pretty too

'Go to the library across the street for FREE and save yourself the second hand embarrassment of paying to go here.'

There's nothing of value and when I tried to get a refund, Alexa Badea-Hasasian, Front of House Coordinator called security on me and was the most condescending disgrace of a human being you can possibly be. When brought to the attention of Andrew Mosker, M.A, President & CEO, he did nothing about it and now ignores me. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!

Excellent exhibits, interactive activities, amazing facts

A great place that puts a spotlight on Canadian talent and the canadian music scene. It also is very educational as to how music is made and how sound works. They even have instruments to play (the guitar was even tuned). Many exhibits and many "artifacts" if musical canadiana such as stomping Tom's stomping board, Neil young's harmonica, bubles suit, etc.

What a beautiful and gorgeous place! We were there for a fundraiser gala dinner ... the food was served by Hotel Arts, and although it was cold chicken... That wasn't the fault of the venue (but I recommend they notify the caterer)

Beautiful Facility, fun location for a family outing. The whole collection can be viewed in a few hours. Try to time your visit so you can see the Kimble Organ demo, it is a thrill. We were lucky enough to see the Fred Penner concert on Family day which was a treat. Great acoustics!

this building is really well done, we took a tour and it was neat to see the different costumes and Calgary's music heritage. Great location, great building and the staff was nice and helpful too.

The displays are simply amazing. I can't recommend the tour enough. The synthesizer used by Stevie Wonder and others looks like a piece from the set of 2001 A Space Odyssey. Simply Wonderful.

Really enjoyed our time here when Geddy Lee presented his bass collection. Wandered through the different exhibits. A great place to get lost with a curious mind.

It was quite nice performance for Alberta culture days!!

Outstanding facility, great displays, EXCELLENT docents...you gotta see it if in Calgary!

It was very informative.. Information one wouldn't think of, opportunity to get involved with writing your own remarks.
Bodyphonics was the bomb!!!!

Beautiful architecture and finishes inside. Excellent way to spend a day emerced in Canadian music history. Plenty of hands on learning and is appropriate for all ages.

Calgarians should visit this fantastic building. We have traveled to far away places that cant compare to it. It's a gift to our city!

Absolutely incredible place honoring Canadians and their contributions.

Went for the Caep event and it was such a beautiful designed building that carries the jazz music so well.

It reminds me a lot of the music hall in Iceland.

It was a great experience and the people at the desk treated us amazingly well. Although most of the exhibits are the same, they have some amazing timed exhibits that you HAVE to see! Not to mention the shows they host here with an amazing stage.

What a delightful experience. Like being gently breathed in by a mighty dragon and breathed out again as a firey magician made of tubas.

I really liked it. Staff was totally friendly. Cool ideas to interact as a guest. Note: when you not really a museum type, you not going to like it. You have to read a lot.

Incredible event venue and beautiful design. The acoustics of each space are impressive. Staff is very helpful. Check out Rosso Coffee in the main level!

Great place for music lovers, stunning architecture, great music.

We visited on family day, and it was busy, but not actually crowded. The building is very interesting architecturally, spread across 5 floors, although in practical terms only floors 3-5 make up the exhibit space, strictly speaking. There were lots of volunteers and a number if interactive exhibits and music parafanalia from famous artists. It was interesting, but not enough I'd repeatedly visit within a given year. Nice to see for the first time, but without some new specific reason to go, I feel I could be better entertained at the Glenbow, or even the Science Centre.

One of coolest places I have ever been! Don't know why I waited so long to check this place out. You could spend days here learning how to play new instruments, learning about old instruments and just enjoying great Canadian music. What a blast.

Attended a one day conference. Facility was good, very nice with good food and efficient service.

Cool music history museum plus and experiential/hands on location to view and play with the instruments as they've evolved through time.