Aberdeen’s historic and much-loved Music Hall will re-open its doors to the public on December 8, with a joyful day of Stepping In community celebrations featuring a special appearance from Travis frontman Fran Healy leading the Music Hall community choir in a performance of the iconic song ‘Sing.’
The doors will be opened to the public at 9.30am with free entry all day and a packed programme of performances and activities from local communities across the North-east who have been participating in the award winning ‘Stepping Out’ programme during closure.
Jane Spiers, chief executive of Aberdeen Performing Arts, the charity behind the Music Hall transformation said “We’re so excited at the prospect of stepping back into the hall and welcoming everyone through the doors. It’s been a labour of love and a complete privilege to play a part in the history of such a national treasure. ‘Stepping In’ is a celebration of all that makes the Music Hall great – and most of all it’s a celebration of people and communities in the North-east.
“It’s been a hugely ambitious and complex project and what’s been achieved within total costs of £9m is incredible, thanks to a great team of committed professionals who believed in the project and have always gone the extra mile – our architects BDP, contractor Kier, project management Axiom and the amazing Aberdeen Performing Arts Team.”
The ambitious project has seen the 200 year-old venue undergo extensive excavations below ground to create a new lower ground floor, freeing up space for a new performance studio, new creative learning studio, new café bar, restaurant and re-located box office.
The works have also included significant excavations and interventions to improve access from street to seat including new lifts and ramps to allow everyone, including people with restricted mobility, to access all levels from basement to balcony for the first time in the building’s history. The entrance to the Music Hall has been transformed with a floor to ceiling video screen exhibiting digital art.
