Bantry and Beyond Venues
West Cork Chamber Music Festival
Bantry House, Co. Cork, Ireland
Bantry House is not only one of the finest historic houses in Ireland but it also commands one of the best views overlooking Bantry Bay in West Cork. It has been open to the public since 1946, the first to be so in the country and possibly also in the British Isles. The house is still owned and lived in by Egerton Shelswell-White, who is a direct descendant of Richard White (1st Earl of Bantry), and his family.
St Brendan's Church, Bantry, Co. Cork, Ireland
This beautiful old church was built in 1818, and is Church of Ireland. It was designed by Henry Edward Kendall, and is in the gothic style. It's situated in the centre of town, on Wolfe Tone Square, the heart of Bantry. Bantry claims an ancient connection with St Brendan, who was the first person to discover America.
A stunning 13th Century Cistercian abbey in the Île-de-France region, this isolated and historic venue has a long history of musical performances. Although the original church was demolished after the French Revolution, when the site was turned into a cotton mill, the picturesque woodlands and isolated location continued to attract the wealthy to the private theatre situated at the site. Since the mid-19th Century, Royaumont has been a convent, a private holiday home and a hospital in the First World War, the owners in the 1930s opened the Abbey as a retreat for struggling artists and intellectuals in what would eventually become the Royaumont Foundation, offering an idyllic setting for the pursuit of art and the humanities.
Martinů Hall, Liechtenstein Palace, Prague
Originally built in the 16th Century by the powerful princes of Liechtenstein, it was rebuilt in the Classical style 200 years later. The Palace has housed several institutions, including the post office, the Austrian military and the Communist Party Political School, before being acquired by the Academy of Musical Arts. The Palace is now devoted to showcasing culture and performances take place is the elegant Martinů Hall.
One of the most illustrious music venues in the world, the Concertgebouw was begun in 1881, when the some of Amsterdam's most prominent citizens, frustrated by the national government's lack of interest and investment in the arts, forged ahead with the plan with no state aid, to provide their city with a world-class concert hall. The Main Hall is renowned for its unparalleled acoustics and the Concertgebouw is one of the most visited concert halls in the world, home to the celebrated Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Ehrbar Saal, Vienna
Located within the Palais Ehrbar, this 19th Century concert hall has played host to some of the most influential names in music, including Johannes Brahms, Arnold Schoenberg and Gustav Mahler. Originally built for a piano manufacturer, the building became home to a music conservatory in 1911. The Ehrbar Saal is exquisitely decorated in the Italian Renaissance style and possesses a beautiful acoustic. It played a significant role in the musical world of Vienna at the end of the 19th and early 20th Centuries, an era of great cultural sophistication, and premiered works by some of the leading musicians of the day.
This historical vault is under a Roman wall tower in Köln and is a marvellously preserved, acoustically magnificent venue for chamber music. It was donated to the Clarissen order at the beginning of the 14th Century and for 500 years was the most distinguished convent in the city. The vault is the only part of the convent to survive the dissolution of the monastery in 1803 – the buildings above were rebuilt into a classical palace – and is a perfect venue for Chamber Music.
Founded in 1996 to promote and support Hungarian music, the current venue was opened in 2013 with a concert hall, library and rooftop hall. This modern and elegant venue is not on a repository for Hungarian music and a support centre for contemporary music, but creates the perfect atmosphere for an outstanding musical experience.
The Gustav Mahler Hall is located in the Grand Hotel Torbach, an historic 19th Century Hotel, a luxury establishment that boasted members of the European nobility among its guests. During the First World War it was transformed into a military hospital and after the war, with the hotel in bad repair and although it continued as a hotel for a time, it passed through various hands and put to different used before being developed as a cultural centre. The Centre is home to the Grand Hotel Orchestra and hold year round events, as well as the Gustav Mahler Music Week. Gustav Mahler had a deep connection to Toblach. He stayed there for three summers 1908-1910, although suffering from heart troubles, he apparently found the idyllic location suitable to his creativity and composed several works during his summers in the region.
This unique and picturesque castle is not only one of the most beautiful places, but has a great history as well as an interesting connection with Ireland. The 17th Century House was built by the van Reede family and it was Godard van Reede who won the Battle of the Boyne for William of Orange, a feat which lead to his creation as the 1st Earl of Athlone. In more recent history, Kaiser Wilhelm II resided there for eighteen months, signing his abdication on a desk that is still part of the castle's historical collection The magnificent gardens that surround the castle create a beautiful setting for films and festivals, and the interior displays a magical backdrop for concerts.
The Jacobs Schools of Music has been dedicated to artistic and creative education and performance for more than a century, attracting students from 55 countries. The Auer Hall, built with a $1 million dollar gift from B. Auer, is a pleasant, modern auditorium with a magnificent 4,000 pipe organ.
TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
This unique and modern music centre is in the heart of the medieval city of Utrecht and is home to all genres of music from chamber to jazz.
Voces8Studios, St Anne & Agnes Church, London
Located near to the St Paul's Cathedral in the heart of London, this delightful Wren Church is a centre for vocal excellence, education and performance. There has been a church at this site since the 12th Century, and it has been renewed and rebuilt after fires, plagues and bombs. The church remains a vibrant service to the community and is home to the Voces8 Foundation.
Henry Wood Hall, London
Located just off London’s Borough Hill Street and set in the beautiful conservation area of Trinity Church Square in Southwark, Henry Wood Hall is the city’s premier rehearsal and recording venue. It is large enough for a full symphony orchestra and choir yet intimate enough for a single soloist. In constant use for more than thirty years, it was formerly the Holy Trinity Church. In 1970, the London Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestras carried out an assessment of various churches in London with the intention of creating a new permanent orchestral rehearsal studio in the capital. Their research into disused churches identified the Holy Trinity Church in Southwark, which was subsequently opened in 1975. The hall was named after Sir Henry Wood, the conductor best known for his association with the Proms, after receiving a substantial donation from the Henry Wood Fund ( set up to rebuild the blitzed Queen’s Hall). Visiting orchestras include the St Petersburg Philharmonic and Japan Philharmonic, both of which have recorded and rehearsed in the venue.
Studio150, Bethlehemkerk, Amsterdam
Studio 150 is a small concert hall and recording studio in Amsterdam. Originally a monumental church built in 1924, it is now a state of the art recording studio and a delightful music venue.
Studio Boerne45, Berlin
The studio offers state of the art recording and rehearsal facilities for independent artists, including a magnificent Steinway D.
Börnestraße 43, 13086 Berlin, Germany
Cermak Eisenkraft Gallery, SmetanaQ House, Prague
The SmetanaQ House is located in an historic townhouse in Prague. The houses were built in 1846 by the architect Berhard Grueber along the bank of the Vlatava River, designed in the classical style. Originally conceived as an apartment building, the house served a variety of different office functions in the 20th Century. In 2013 the building was damaged by an explosion and although expensive reconstruction efforts have allowed it to be used, part of the building is still inaccessible. It currently houses several art galleries and cultural spaces, including the Cermak Eisenkraft Gallery, which was founded in 2014 to deal primarily with Czech art.