A leading venue for chamber music, Wigmore Hall currently presents over 400 concerts a year in addition to 150 education events. Many of the Hall’s concerts are recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3, including a live broadcast each Monday lunchtime.

Wigmore Hall is renowned for its excellent acoustics and intimate atmosphere – it has just 550 seats compared with nearly 6000 at the Royal Albert Hall. The size of the Hall makes it ideal for chamber music – song, string quartets and piano concerts – the types of music that would have originally been enjoyed in people’s homes.

The hall and the foyer are beautiful examples of renaissance style architecture and many original characteristics remain – gas-lights in the auditorium are still lit for every concert. Wigmore Hall’s auditorium features a cupola above the stage depicting the Soul of Music.

Some of the famous performers who have appeared on the Wigmore Hall stage over the past 100 years include: Benjamin Britten, Alfred Brendel, the Beaux Arts Trio, Pablo Casals, Daniel Barenboim, Gabriel Fauré, Percy Grainger, Myra Hess, Steven Isserlis, The Lindsays, Felicity Lott, Peter Pears, Sergei Prokofiev, Arthur Rubinstein, Camille Saint-Saëns, András Schiff, the Takács Quartet and Mitsuko Uchida.

WIGMORE HALL EDUCATION

Wigmore Hall Education provides one of the broadest education programmes amongst the capital’s arts organisations and derives its inspiration from the Hall’s rich artistic programme. The department was formally set up in 1994 and has developed a wide range of events for all ages and levels of experience. Events include family days, family concerts, school projects and concerts for schools, workshops for jazz and folk music, as well as events for adults and opportunities for young professional musicians.

WIGMORE HALL WORKING WITH SCHOOLS

CHAMBER ZONE offers secondary school and A-level students the opportunity to attend some of the finest evening concerts at Wigmore Hall at a greatly reduced price. Alongside the concert the project includes a free workshop at your school. The workshops aim to animate the concert experience and include composition workshops, singing workshops, repertoire-based work and ‘meet the performer’ sessions.
What the students said: ‘The music was really nice and it was nice seeing the people who had worked with you, on stage performing for you.’

SCHOOLS CONCERTS are a regular element of the programme with concerts aimed at KS2, KS3 and KS4 students. Concerts feature world class chamber performers such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and vocal ensemble I Fagiolini. These are all supported by a teachers’ pack tailored to the National Curriculum with background information and additional activities.

SCHOOLS PROJECTS Wigmore Hall Education runs outreach projects in primary and secondary schools as well as a special programme for nursery schools. Professional musicians visit schools and work with pupils alongside composers and animateurs. These are often creative projects culminating in a visit to Wigmore Hall, with a performance of the newly created work on the stage of the auditorium. Projects are supported by INSET for teachers.
What the teachers said: ‘The overall impact was very positive – we have performed for the whole school! Our music teacher has carried on musical compositions in our music lessons’

For more information about Wigmore Hall Education visit our web-site www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
or contact us:

e-mail: education@wigmore-hall.org.uk

call: 020 7258 8240

write: Education Department, Wigmore Hall, Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP