Auckland Town Hall, Concert hall and town hall in Auckland, New Zealand
The Auckland Town Hall is a five-storey Italian Renaissance Revival building on Queen Street, with a 40-metre clock tower topped by a green cupola. Its ground floor is dark rusticated Melbourne basalt, contrasting with pale Oamaru limestone above. The Great Hall seats 1,673 people.
Plans for a town hall dated to 1872; the Queen Street and Greys Avenue corner was fixed in 1880 and taken by the Auckland Reserves Exchange and Change of Trust Act 1881. Melbourne architects JJ & EJ Clark won the 1908 competition, mayor Arthur Myers laid the foundation stone on 24 February 1909, and Lord Islington opened the building on 14 December 1911. It cost £126,000, and a NZ$33 million restoration ran from 1994 to 1997.
The Great Hall's pipe organ was funded by former mayor Sir Henry Brett, designed by English organist Edwin Lemare and built by Norwich firm Norman and Beard in 1911. It is the country's largest musical instrument and a legally protected object. Dismantled in 2008, it was rebuilt by Orgelbau Klais of Bonn using surviving 1911 parts.
The hall is easily accessible from Queen Street in central Auckland, with information available about scheduled events and guided tours. Check ahead to see which areas are open, as performances occur regularly throughout the week.
The Grand Hall's acoustics were modeled after Leipzig's Gewandhaus concert hall, giving the space a reputation for superior sound qualities that appeal to musicians worldwide. This connection to European concert hall traditions makes it stand out among performance venues in the region.
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