Home Programme History Contacts Links
|
Home Programme History Contacts Links
|
|
6th February 2018 - The Usher Hall Ruth Boreham Some 25 members met in the Biggar Municipal Hall on 6 February to hear a fascinating talk on the history of the Usher Hall by Ruth Boreham, who carried out research for its centenary in 2014. The origins of the Usher Hall go back well beyond its opening in 1914. In 1896 Andrew Usher, a wealthy drinks manufacturer, gave the City of Edinburgh £100,000 to establish a new civic concert hall. He did not live to see its completion, nor even any start on its construction, as he died in 1898. It took the City a further 13 years before the foundation stone was laid by the new King and Queen in 1911. It is acoustically one of the best concert halls in Europe, thanks to its innovative design and layout. Once the hall was completed, a major role during the First World War was recruiting meetings to encourage men to join up. Even after the War ended, many charity concerts were organised, and the inaugural meeting of the British Legion was held there in 1921. After the Second World War the hall was central to the founding of the Edinburgh International Festival in 1947, and it has been the main music venue in the Festival ever since. Recently extended and completely refurbished, it is a unique building staging a wide variety of musical events. The next meeting on 20 February is an Open Meeting at which Bob Copeland will tell us about a Trip to India.
|