Melbourne_Recital_Centre

Melbourne Recital Centre

Melbourne Recital Centre

A contemporary public building for music performances.

Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) is a venue and organisation for live music in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The organisation programs and presents more than 500 concerts and events a year across diverse range of musical genres including classical and chamber music, contemporary, pop, folk, rock, electronica, indie, jazz, cabaret and world music. Opened in 2009, the centre is Melbourne's second largest auditorium for classical music.

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History

The building was opened in 2009, as part of the Melbourne Recital Centre and Melbourne Theatre Company Southbank Theatre complex designed by Ashton Raggat McDougall,[1] with acoustic and theatre consulting by Arup.[2]

Location and facilities

Melbourne Recital Centre is located on the corner of Southbank Boulevard and Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, Southbank. It is Melbourne's second largest auditorium for classical music (after Hamer Hall in Arts Centre Melbourne).

The centre features two auditoria, the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, and a smaller Salon. The former, a "modified shoe box" shaped music venue, is named after Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. It has seating for 1000 on two levels.[2][3]

The 135 m2 (1,450 sq ft) stage, with optional 51 m2 (550 sq ft) extension is designed to accommodate up to 45–65 musicians, making it well suited to chamber music and other small ensemble music.[4] To eliminate noise from the nearby Southbank Boulevard cars and trams, it is surrounded by 250mm of concrete, mounted on 38 steel springs. The interior is lined with Hoop Pine plywood and is designed to give ideal bass response for cello and low brass.[4] The shoebox shape, size and wooden surfaces were designed to provide a reverberation time of 1.6 to 1.8 seconds [5]

The Salon can seat 136 people. The lighting, seating and stage can be configured to suit the performance.[3]

Governance

Kathryn Fagg AO was for some years around 2014 to 2016 chair of MRC.[6][7]

As of April 2024, the board is headed by Andrea Hull.[8]

Activities and events

The organisation programs and presents more than 500 concerts and events a year across diverse range of musical genres including classical and chamber, contemporary, pop, folk, rock, electronica, indie, jazz, cabaret and world music.

Competitions

In 2013, the Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition was presented by Chamber Music Australia in association with the Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC). Murdoch University, Arts Victoria, Musica Viva, and ABC Classic FM were all partners, and Dame Elisabeth Murdoch was patron.[9]

In 2016, Musica Viva took over co-management of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, together with MRC and the Australian National Academy of Music.[10]

Awards

Architecture awards

Melbourne Recital Centre and MTC Theatre complex won the Moore Stephens National Award for Public Buildings at the Property Council of Australia – the country's highest award for a public building.[2][11] The complex also won the Victorian Architecture Medal, the William Wardell Award for Public Architecture and the Joseph Reed Award for Urban Design at the Australian Institute of Architects Victoria Chapter State Architecture Awards in 2009.[2]

Music venue awards

The Music Victoria Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006. The award for Best Venue was introduced in 2016.

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See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Mtc/mrc". ArchitectureAU. 1 March 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  2. [2]
    The Building – Melbourne Recital Centre website
  3. [3]
    "Melbourne Recital Centre / ARM Architecture". ARM Architecture. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  4. [4]
    Elisabeth Murdoch Hall technical specifications Archived 14 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine – Melbourne Recital Centre
  5. [5]
    Raf Orlowski. "The acoustic design of the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne, Australia" (PDF). Conforg.fr. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  6. [6]
    "Chief Executive Women – Kathryn Fagg". cew.org.au. 12 March 2015. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  7. [7]
    "Chief Executive Women members elect Kathryn Fagg as President". Melbourne Recital Centre. 26 October 2016. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  8. [8]
    "Board of Directors". Melbourne Recital Centre. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  9. [9]
    "Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition: 8-14 July 2013: Competition overview" (PDF). 2013 – via Chinese Embassy.
  10. [10]
    "New future for top music competitions". Premier of Victoria. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  11. [11]
    Melbourne's arts precinct receives nation's highest honour Archived 8 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine – Building Product News (BPN.com.au), 22 June 2009
  12. [12]
    "Previous Nominess". Music Victoria. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  13. [13]
    "Previous Winners". Music Victoria. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  14. [14]
    "Music Victoria Awards Reveals Line-up And Nominees for 2021". Noise11. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Music Victoria Awards 2021 Winners". Scenestr.com.au. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  16. [16]
    "Music Victoria Awards 2022 Winners". Scenestr. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.

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