Cedars Hall is

Wells Cathedral School Wells Cathedral School is a co-educational independent school located in Wells, Somerset, England. The school is one of the five specialist musical schools for school-age children in the United Kingdom, along with Chetham's School of Music, the ...

's performing arts venue located in

Wells, Somerset Wells () is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, located on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, south-east of Weston-super-Mare, south-west of Bath and south of Bristol. Although the population recorde ...

, England. Opened in autumn 2016, it provides the capacity for audiences of 350 in its main recital hall named Eavis Hall after Old Wellensian

Michael Eavis Athelstan Joseph Michael Eavis (born 17 October 1935) is an English dairy farmer and the co-creator of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place at his farm in Pilton, Somerset. Personal life Eavis was born in Pilton, Somerset and grew up ...

, CBE, founder of the Glastonbury Festival.

Performance and practice spaces

Eavis Hall is a flexible and modern performance space accommodating an orchestra of 60 performers and an audience of 250, with other configurations possible through adaptation of seating and platforms. Whilst Cedars Hall's award-winning design was devised to give chamber musicians the very best acoustic experience, the flexibility of the technical specification means that this venue is accessible for performers of every discipline – for amplified music, dance, drama and lectures. As well as the events venue, Eavis Hall, Cedars Hall offers space to the school's musicians, for teaching, rehearsing and performing. It also acts as a hub for wider participation and involvement by the local community, providing music education (including workshops, concerts and masterclasses) for young people, the elderly and for disability groups throughout

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

. Cedars Hall includes three further teaching and practice spaces, each with adjoining observation facilities as well as the John Baxter Foyer, bar and recording facilities.

Concerts and Events Programme

Cedars Hall
has hosted a variety of musicians including jazz artists

Clare Teal Clare Teal (born 14 May 1973) is an English singer and broadcaster who has become famous not only for her singing, but also for having signed the biggest recording contract by a British jazz singer. Biography Teal was brought up in the Kildwic ...

and Claire Martin, finger guitarist

Mike Dawes Mike Dawes is an English fingerstyle guitar player known for composing, arranging and performing multiple parts simultaneously on the guitar. Biography Dawes experimented with keyboards before picking up his first electric guitar at age twelve ...

and pianists

Mitsuko Uchida is a classical pianist and conductor, born in Japan and naturalised in Britain, particularly noted for her interpretations of Mozart and Schubert. She has appeared with many notable orchestras, recorded a wide repertory with several labels, w ...

and

Stephen Hough Sir Stephen Andrew Gill Hough (; born 22 November 1961) is a British-born classical pianist, composer and writer. He became an Australian citizen in 2005 and thus has dual nationality (his father was born in Australia in 1926). Biography Houg ...

. In addition to music, Cedars Hall has a varied programme, which includes lectures, art exhibitions, comedy shows and drama productions. Previous performances include

Patricia Routledge Dame Katherine Patricia Routledge, (; born 17 February 1929) is an English actress, singer and broadcaster. For her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995), she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award f ...

Simon Singh Simon Lehna Singh, (born 19 September 1964) is a British popular science author, theoretical and particle physicist. His written works include ''Fermat's Last Theorem'' (in the United States titled ''Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve th ...

and

Vikki Stone Vikki Stone is a British composer, comedian, actress and musician. Early life Stone went to Rugby High School, and then won a flute scholarship to go to Wells Cathedral School for the sixth form. In 1997 she became a flautist for the National ...

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

has broadcast two series of concerts from Cedars Hall: ''Towards the Revolution'' and ''Four Cities''.

Contractors

The building was designed by Eric Parry Architects, an award-winning practice based in London, UK. The theatre consultants, Charcoalblue, provided guidance on the planning of the recital space and assisted with stage engineering.

BuroHappold Engineering Buro Happold (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment ...

, an engineering consultancy also assisted with the design of the hall. Construction was undertaken by the Shaylor Group.

Awards

Cedars Hall has won two

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

(RIBA) awards; the South West Award 2017 and the South West Building of the Year Award 2017.

References

{{coord, 51.2133, -2.6448, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in Wells, Somerset Theatres in Somerset