555 Sherbrooke West

The 555 Sherbrooke West building serves as the McGill College Music campus. This mansion-style structure was originally built in 1899 to provide women with access to higher education. At the time, boys and girls were not educated together, nor did they attend the same schools. The Royal Victoria College, an annex of McGill University, was exclusively for women. Today, however, it is open to all students.

The building now houses not only classrooms but also rehearsal rooms and event halls of various sizes. The largest of these is Pollack Hall, which can seat up to 600 people and hosts a wide range of events.

At the front steps of the 1899 building, a statue of Queen Victoria sits proudly on an elevated pedestal. This statue is a replica of an earlier version created by Princess Louise, one of Queen Victoria’s children, in London. Interestingly, this is not the only monument to Queen Victoria in Montreal – another can be found in Square Victoria.

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