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Glasgow's City Halls and Old Fruitmarket is a concert hall and former market located on Candleriggs, in the
Merchant City
The Merchant City, a new name introduced through urban renewal by the Scottish Development Agency and the city council in the 1980s is one part of the metropolitan central area of Glasgow. It commences at George Square and goes eastwards reachin ...
,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
History
The City Halls are part of a market complex designed by John Carrick in 1882, but the grand hall itself was designed by George Murray and opened in 1841. It was the first hall suitable for large gatherings and concerts to be built in the City and played host to the likes of
Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...
,
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, Hungarian patriot
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva (, hu, udvardi és kossuthfalvi Kossuth Lajos, sk, Ľudovít Košút, anglicised as Louis Kossuth; 19 September 1802 – 20 March 1894) was a Hungarian nobleman, lawyer, journalist, poli ...
and
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
. From its early days it hosted a wide variety of popular and classical concerts including those by touring groups such as
Louis-Antoine Jullien
Louis George Maurice Adolphe Roche Albert Abel Antonio Alexandre Noë Jean Lucien Daniel Eugène Joseph-le-brun Joseph-Barême Thomas Thomas Thomas-Thomas Pierre Arbon Pierre-Maurel Barthélemi Artus Alphonse Bertrand Dieudonné Emanuel Josué V ...
's celebrated London-based orchestra and
Charles Halle's orchestra from Manchester. Glasgow's first regular orchestral subscription concert series, played by an orchestra managed by the Glasgow Choral Union, was given in the grand hall from 1874 until the opening of the much larger St Andrew's Hall in 1877.
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
was its conductor for two seasons from 1875-77. The Old Fruitmarket directly adjoins the grand hall and was a functioning market until the 1970s after which it was in occasional use for jazz and folk music events. The adjoining buildings were home to bustling produce markets such as the fresh fruit and flower market and the cheese market.
In the past it featured concerts by the
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an Edinburgh-based UK chamber orchestra. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and S ...
and the
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...
. For a number of years, after the destruction by fire of the St Andrews Hall in 1962, it was used for concerts by the
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the O ...
, until the opening of
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is a concert and arts venue located in Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned by Glasgow City Council and operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow's City Halls and Old Fruitmarket v ...
in 1990. It has also been a venue for many of Glasgow's Festivals, including
Celtic Connections
The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of tra ...
, Mayfest and the
Jazz Festival
This is a list of notable jazz festivals around the world.
Historic jazz festivals
Jazz festivals by country
The following is an incomplete list of notable jazz festivals, including both current and defunct festivals of note.
Africa
Angol ...
, as well as political and trade union gatherings. It has been protected as a
category A listed building
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
*Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally
*Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
*Category (Kant)
* Categories (Peirce)
* ...
since 1970.
Concert hall
The City Halls and Old Fruitmarket re-opened in January 2006 after undergoing a period of extensive renovation.
Renovation of the City Halls, ''The Scotsman''
/ref> The refurbished halls are now the home of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Music Centre, both members of a partnership with the City Council and Glasgow Cultural Enterprises. The hall is also the regular performance space for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Glasgow and is a centre for music education with the city's Education Department as a key participant.
The venue consists of several performance venues under one roof, managed by Glasgow Cultural Enterprises (which also manages The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall):
#The "Grand Hall", or main City Hall auditorium, which is a traditional "shoebox"-shaped hall with very fine acoustics seating 1066 in total. This is the home of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (SSO) which rehearses, records and performs here. The stage can accommodate an orchestra of over 90 and there are choir seats for 110. The hall is also used regularly by the (Edinburgh-based) Scottish Chamber Orchestra for its Glasgow concerts and by the Scottish Ensemble, among others.
#The Recital Room, a new space suitable for chamber music, seating around 100.
#The Old Fruitmarket, an atmospheric venue still retaining its market hall character with a flexible capacity of 1000-2000. This is used for jazz and traditional music events, and also by the BBC SSO for more experimental contemporary music events.
The City Halls also houses the Scottish Music Centre, offices and recording facilities for the BBC SSO, and extensive music education facilities. Arup Acoustics provided the acoustic design for the renovation, working closely with the architects Civic Design, venue consultants Arup Venue Consultancy and engineers Arup Scotland.
See also
*Culture in Glasgow
The city of Glasgow, Scotland, has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion, ...
References
External links
Glasgow City Halls website
Glasgow Cultural Enterprises website
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra website
Scottish Music Centre website
{{Coord, 55.85884, N, 4.24483, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Tourist attractions in Glasgow
Music venues in Glasgow
Category A listed buildings in Glasgow