De Montfort Hall
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(July 2011) |
 De Montfort Hall, Leicester | |
 | |
| Address | Granville Road Leicester,England United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Owner | Leicester City Council |
| Type | concert hall/auditorium |
| Capacity | 400-2,200 (auditorium), 250-7,000 (amphitheater) |
| Current use | Touring Venue |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 21 July 1913 |
| Years active | 110 |
| Architect | Shirley Harrison |
| Website | |
| http://www.demontforthall.co.uk/ | |
De Montfort Hallis the largest music and performance venue inLeicester,England. It is situated adjacent toVictoria Parkand is named after the "Father of Parliament",Simon de Montfort,Earl of Leicester.
History[edit]
The hall was built by theCorporation of Leicesterin 1912 and 1913, and was opened to the public on 21 July 1913, at a cost of £21,000.[1]The architect was Shirley Harrison (1876–1961), who also designed the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. He was the son ofStockdale Harrison,architect ofVaughan College.[2]
Its indoor auditoriumseating capacityis approximately 2000, and the hall contains apipe organbelieved to be the only surviving example of a large concert organ by Leicester organ builders Stephen Taylor & Son Ltd. The organ was installed in 1914. The pipe organ is a particularly fine example and comprises 6000 pipes, attracting many distinguished organists to play recitals. In 2014 the pipe organ was estimated to be worth over five million GBP.[3]
The hall features inRichard Attenborough's filmGrey Owl(1999), in a reenactment of Attenborough and his brotherDavid's boyhood attendance at a wildlife lecture.[4]
Notable events[edit]
Most of the hall's events take place in the indoor auditorium, with shows spanning popular music, comedy, opera, ballet, world and roots music, West End musicals, classical music and a popular and traditional annual pantomime which runs from December to January. TheLeicester Symphony Orchestra,started bySir Malcolm Sargent,was established at the hall in 1922 and perform four concerts each season. The Leicester Philharmonic Choir and the Bardi Symphony Orchestra are also regular performers. With the world-famousPhilharmonia Orchestraenjoying a residency at the hall since 1997.
De Montfort Hall is also the largest venue in Leicester to hold the Hindu festival ofNavratri.
Events take place at the hall's spacious and scenic gardens. In recent years these have included The Big Session Festival and theSummer Sundaemusic festival, both ceased in 2012.
Graduationceremonies for theUniversity of Leicesterhave been taking place in the hall since 1958.
Buddy HollyandThe Cricketsperformed at the venue in March 1958.
The Beatles played three concerts here between 1963 and 1964, at the height of Beatlemania.
Bob Dylanplayed at the hall on 2 May 1965 during his first tour of England.[5]
Progressive rock groupGenesisrecorded the majority of their 1973 releaseGenesis Liveat the Hall.
Family,originally from Leicester, performed their farewell concert at the Hall on October 13, 1973.[6]
Iron Maidenperformed here in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986 and 1990.
Neo-progressive rock groupMarillionrecorded part of their first live albumReal to Reelat De Montfort Hall, along with other live performances recorded or otherwise.
In 2011, a tribute forSir Norman Wisdomwas held at the venue, raising money for theRoy Castle Fund.The charitable event also raised funds forGrand Order of Water Rats,of which Wisdom was a member, and featured notable appearances from membersBruce Jones,Nicholas Parsons,Johnny Mans,Rick WakemanandJess Conrad.[7][8][9]
Westlifelead vocalistShane Filanplayed at the hall twice as a solo artist in 2014 and 2018.[10][11]
Keaneperformed there on 25 September 2019.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^"City Council|History of De Montfort Hall".Demontforthall.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 5 August 2013.Retrieved10 January2021.
- ^Public sculpture of Leicestershire and Rutland - Page 370 Terry Cavanagh, Alison Yarrington - 2000 "-1922) An architect, he designed Leicester's Town Hall, 1873-6 (designs shown at the Royal Academy, London,... The practice was continued after his death by his sons, James Stockdale Harrison (1874-1952) and Shirley Harrison (1876-1961)"
- ^"Rare organ celebrates centenary".Bbc.co.uk.Retrieved10 January2021.
- ^Country Life:Volume 194 (2000). In the film, Lord Attenborough has re-enacted that precise moment, even down to the detail of the lecture taking place in Leicester (Grey Owl's lecture tours included many of Britain's major cities).
- ^"When Bob Dylan played De Montfort Hall, Leicester, in 1965".Leicester Mercury.13 October 2016.Retrieved8 April2022.
- ^"1973 -- Family Bandstand".Retrieved28 April2024.
- ^"A wonderful tribute to the late, great Sir Norman Wisdom".De Montfort Hall. Archived fromthe originalon 2016-04-12.Retrieved2016-03-31.
- ^"Johnny Mans Productions - Charity Work".Johnny Mans official website.
- ^[1][permanent dead link]
- ^"Shane Filan -".Priority.o2.co.uk.Retrieved10 January2021.
- ^"Shane Filan (Closed November 05, 2014) | Leicester | reviews, cast and info".Whatsonstage.com.Retrieved10 January2021.
External links[edit]
| Authority control databases:Geographic |
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