royal concert hall

2 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow G2 3NY
Tickets: 0141 353 8000
Switchboard: 0141 353 8080

The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall was built to replace the St Andrews Hall at Charing Cross which burned down in 1962.

This much-loved venue provided the inspiration for the present Concert Hall; a venue of international standing that could be patronised by all the citizens of Glasgow and also by local and foreign visitors due to the diversity of events it would stage.

The renowned architect Sir Leslie Martin designed the Hall and its magnificence is envied by many cities. The first stone was laid in April 1989 and it was completed in an astounding 864 days. It was originally planned to be the Glasgow International Concert Hall but Royal status was granted after completion.

HRH the Princess Royal attended the Royal Opening on 5th October where the programme was performed by the Scottish National Orchestra. This was the showpiece of the year when Glasgow was awarded the European City of Culture.

Throughout its history the Concert Hall has played host to some of the world's greatest orchestras, such as The Moscow State Orchestra, The St Petersburg Philharmonic and, most recently, The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra which played to a sell out audience.

Scottish classical music is also well represented at The Hall with the biggest event being on the 22nd November 1993 when, for the first time ever, all four Scottish orchestras played together; the RSNO, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Opera Orchestra, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

It is not only classical music that has provided some of the Hall's biggest highlights. 1994 saw the legendary Bob Hope take to the stage to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings. This was his only other British concert apart from the one at the Royal Albert Hall. A more recent success was the appearance of the fantastic Buena Vista Social Club in May 2001.The auditorium was packed with a jubilant crowd swinging to their sensational sounds.

The world of politics has also provided some important events for the Hall. On Sunday the 9th of October 1993 Nelson Mandela chose Glasgow as the place to formally receive the freedoms of 9 British cities. He entered the Hall to a choral rendition of Down by the Riverside and deservedly received a standing ovation when he addressed the audience of trade unionists, council representatives, and churchmen.

One of The Hall's major successes is the Celtic Connections festival which occurs in January every year.

This was launched in 1994 and won The Hall the Scottish Thistle Award for Low Season Development that year. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, bringing thousands of people to Glasgow and generating millions of pounds for the city.

Celtic Connections' international appeal was officially recognised in 1999 when it won the FITAC Award for Best Foreign Festival by the French Festival Association.

Winning awards has not only been a recent activity for The Concert Hall.

In 1993 The Hall won the main National Award for Best Practice in Access for People with Disabilities and in 1994 it was highly commended in the National Best Practices Awards for Service Excellence.

The staff at The Concert Hall have always worked as a close-knit team and this was demonstrated on a lighter note when sixteen Hall employees won the Dragonboat Race at Strathclyde Country Park in July 2000. The talented team raised over twelve hundred pounds which was donated to the British Lung Foundation.

• Visit their website for more information