Welcome to City Recital Hall

Our Vision

To make City Recital Hall a performing arts centre renowned for its inclusive contemporary and classical music programming, elevated audience experiences, and world-class acoustic.

Our Values

Connection 

Live music connects people 

Imagination 

Creativity produces better performances

Excellence 

Reputation is built through excellence

Sustainability 

Sustainability is the key to lasting impact              

 

Our Story

City Recital Hall opened in 1999, as the second purpose-built music venue in Sydney after the Sydney Opera House was unveiled in 1973. The 1238-seat auditorium, designed by Peddle Thorp & Walker Architects, is tuned at an occupied reverberation rate of 1.75 seconds.

City Recital Hall’s conception followed extensive lobbying by Sydney’s arts community for a purpose-built recital space for orchestral and chamber music. The consortium of concert presenters included the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Musica Viva Australia, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. These leading music organisations have been Presenting Partners since the venue’s inception, hosting annual performance seasons at City Recital Hall for over twenty years. Pinchgut Opera later joined as a Presenting Partner in 2002.

City Recital Hall Limited was established in 2015 as a not-for-profit company to create exceptional live music experiences for Sydney. Today, City Recital Hall presents a curated program of contemporary music performances to complement our classical presenting partners and to increase the diversity of our programming and audiences.