The Congress Hall ( pl, Sala Kongresowa) is a 2,880-seat theatre at the
Palace of Culture and Science
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
in
Warsaw,
Poland. It was opened in 1955.
Renovation
The hall was closed for approximately 2 years from July 2014 for renovations, modernisation and improvements for fire safety before re-opening in 2016. The initial cost estimate was 45 million
złoty.
Music performances and festivals
Past performances have included shows by
Marlene Dietrich (1964 and 1966),
King Crimson,
Procol Harum,
Pat Metheny,
The Rolling Stones (1967),
Paul Anka,
Charles Aznavour,
Juliette Gréco,
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
,
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American jazz and classical music pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a ...
,
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...
,
Leonard Cohen (1985),
Diana Krall, and
Yes
Yes or YES may refer to:
* An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no
Education
* YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US
* YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...
. More recent musical performances have included
Tangerine Dream (in 1997),
Patti Smith (in 2002),
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
(
in 2004),
Dead Can Dance (2005),
Mieskuoro Huutajat
Mieskuoro Huutajat (Men's Choir Shouters) is an internationally famous shouting choir from Oulu, Finland. They were established in 1987 and originally comprised 20 shouting men, since expanded to 30.
Led by conductor Petri Sirviö, the choir is ...
(2007) and
Katie Melua (2014).
The theatre has hosted closed-congresses of companies such as
Microsoft,
Nationale Nederlanden
NN Group N.V. is the parent company of NN Investment Partners and Nationale-Nederlanden (). Nationale-Nederlanden is one of the largest insurance and asset management companies in the Netherlands. NN Group is headquartered in The Hague, its off ...
,
Commercial Union, and
Zepter International. In 2006, the theatre hosted the finals of the
Miss World 2006 beauty pageant.
In September 2014, the renovation of the building began in order to adapt it to fire protection requirements. The renovation cost was supposed to be about PLN 45 million. However, it turned out that the cost and scope of the work were underestimated, and in the spring of 2016 their contractor declared bankruptcy. In December 2017, the management board of the PKiN management company announced a tender for a new concept for the modernization of the hall. The cost of the renovation was estimated at over PLN 100 million, and its completion in the years 2022–2024. In August 2018, the Council of the Capital City of Warsaw has allocated PLN 183 million for the renovation of the Congress Hall, which has been included in the long-term financial perspective. In 2019, the competition for the modernization of the hall was concluded. In 2021, it turned out that the amount reserved by the city was too small. The earliest completion date for the renovation is around 2025.
See also
*
History of Poland (1945-1989)
*
Socialist realism
*
Music of Poland
References
Theatres in Warsaw
Music venues completed in 1967
1967 establishments in Poland
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