IT has played host to some of the biggest names in music and was created as a flagship venue as Glasgow reinvented itself through culture.
Opening its doors more than 30 years ago, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is among the locations which earned the city the title of leading festival and event destination in the world at the 2019 World Travel Awards.
However, now it is to undergo a £2million revamp with the venue closing its doors for almost two months following next year’s Celtic Connections festival.
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Glasgow Life, the charitable trust which runs the city's culture and leisure services, revealed the Concert Hall will receive the investment from Glasgow City Council’s capital funds.
The funding means all the Main Auditorium seats will be replaced, and stage lifts will receive electrical upgrades after 32 years of service. It will also allow for important accessibility improvements.
However to carry out the work the venue will close for a period from next February. The revamp comes at a time when steps are being made to transform the area amid a proposal to demolish the adjacent Buchanan Galleries shopping centre.
A consultation is under way which would see the mall pulled down to make way for a new urban neighbourhood along with plans to reconfigure public space close to the Royal Concert Hall which Glasgow Life says is at the heart of Glasgow’s social and cultural life and is one of the city’s most-loved venues.
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Designed by Sir Leslie Martin, it opened its doors in 1990 and had a rubber skin sound-proofing system built into the floor to keep out the noise from the underground train system that passes under the building.
It’s the home of Scotland’s national orchestra, the RSNO, and has one of the top national festivals, Celtic Connections, at its core. Over the last three decades, it has hosted many legendary acts, including Tony Bennet, Debbie Harry, BB King and Johnny Cash.
Glasgow Life says the improvement works are necessary to maintain the Concert Hall’s status as a world-class arts and music venue.
The works will get underway after Celtic Connections in 2023. They will begin on Monday, February 6 and run for eight weeks and are expected to finish on Friday, March 31.
The Main Auditorium will be closed during this time to allow the works to be completed. It means concerts and events will be unable to take place in this part of the building over this period.
Bailie Annette Christie, chair of Glasgow Life, said: “This investment will ensure Glasgow Royal Concert Hall continues to be a world-class venue, which allows arts and music in the city to flourish and enhances our reputation as a UNESCO City of Music. It contributes to the vibrancy of Glasgow and attracts artists and musicians of all genres and visitors to the city to see them.
"Performing at the Royal Concert Hall, following in the footsteps of global superstars, will have been an ambition for artists and musicians for generations. This investment ensures the venue matches the dreams of young people in Glasgow who want to have a career in music, arts and culture. People will return to an improved venue and enjoy a better concert experience.”
RSNO Chief Executive Alistair Mackie said they were grateful to Glasgow City Council for this investment which is excellent news for the whole city. He said: "The Concert Hall is the RSNO’s home in Glasgow, right in the heart of the city centre and we love performing there regularly during the concert season.
“We are excited to see how these developments will improve the concert experience for our loyal supporters and will also help to bring new audiences into the concert hall for the first time. Improving accessibility is a priority for the RSNO and we’re really looking forward to seeing the impact that these updates have on our concertgoers.”
The Main Auditorium of Glasgow Royal Concert Hall can seat 2,475 people. The venue also has smaller halls, including the 500-seat New Auditorium, the 400-capacity Strathclyde Suite, the 300-capacity Exhibition Hall, the 120-capacity Buchanan Suite, and multiple other breakout spaces.
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