City Recital Hall in Sydney, Australia, is a purpose-built concert venue with the capacity for an audience of 1,238 people seated over three tiers of sloped seating. It is situated in the

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in Angel Place, just off

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

. The architect was Peddle Thorp & Walker Architects and acoustic consultant was Arup Acoustics.

History

City Recital Hall, opened in 1999, is the first specially designed concert venue to be built in the city since the

Opera House An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

in 1973. The venue was initiated by the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the Local government in Australia, local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament ...

and was specifically designed for solo recitals,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

and the spoken word. The auditorium's 1.8-second

reverberation In acoustics, reverberation (commonly shortened to reverb) is a persistence of sound after it is produced. It is often created when a sound is reflection (physics), reflected on surfaces, causing multiple reflections that build up and then de ...

time is attuned for chamber music. The spoken word and amplified music are accommodated by the operation of specially designed acoustic banners. The entire auditorium is supported on rubber bearings to avoid vibration and street sounds and the air conditioning and lighting systems have been treated to minimise external noise. The Hall was designed in a shoebox shape, based on the classical configuration of 19th-century European concert halls. The design includes gently sloping stalls and two galleries that wrap around both sides and rear of the auditorium. The décor is of grey,

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, light timber panelling and plum-coloured upholstery. The main grand stairway is white marble. , City Recital Hall has been undergoing a Capital Renewal Project in partnership with the

. The renovations encompass the four foyers, including the four bars and cloakroom, the lower ground bathrooms, the dressing and green rooms, and the orchestra room. In addition, the venue's audio system has been upgraded to enable 360-degree spatial sound on all three levels, with the aim of further establishing a place in Sydney's contemporary music scene to complement classical offerings. , partially as a result of renovations, City Recital Hall began offering standing general admission concerts.

Notable events and performances

City Recital Hall has hosted the following companies: *

Australian Brandenburg Orchestra The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (ABO) is an Australian period instrument orchestra specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music. Founders The orchestra's founder and artistic director is Paul Dyer. In 2013 Dyer was ...

Australian Chamber Orchestra The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) is an Australian orchestra focused on chamber music based in Sydney. History The Australian Chamber Orchestra was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975.Verghis, Sharon"Bach with more bite pays off" ''T ...

* Australian String Quartet * Gondwana Voices * Musica Viva Australia * Pinchgut Opera * Selby & Friends *

Sydney Children's Choir Gondwana Choirs is an Australian national choral organisation. It was founded in 1989 as Sydney Children’s Choir by Lyn Williams AM, who is its artistic director. The choirs' rehearsal studios are located at the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct in ...

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Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. It presents its own annual concert series in the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Town Hall, City Recital Hall, and other venues in New South Wales, as well as serving as cho ...

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

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A list of some of the more famous musical acts that have performed at City Recital Hall include:

Notes

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.cityrecitalhall.com/
Review of the new book "Musical Chairs: The Quest for a City Recital Hall"
Concert halls in Australia Theatres in Sydney Music venues completed in 1999 Music venues in Sydney 1999 establishments in Australia

History

Notable events and performances

See also

Notes

References

External links