Concert Hall

• The Concert Hall was built to accommodate the performances of the Exhibition Orchestra and housed the Exhibition Organ.
• Although it was of a reasonable size the Orchestra’s conductor felt that it was not a good venue in which to perform.

Dimensions

The Concert Hall, at the rear of the Main Building, was designed by Joseph Clarkson Maddison and built at a cost of £5297 by J. & J. Jamieson. The different parts of the Concert Hall had the following measurements:

• the Hall measured 130 feet (40 metres) by 52 feet (16 metres)
• the Auditorium was 95 feet (29 metres) by 50 feet (15 metres)
• the Dress circle was 50 feet (15 metres) by 50 feet (50 metres)
• the Stage was 52 feet (16 metres) by 40 feet (12 metres)

The dress circle seated 350 people, and a further 1100 could be seated in the auditorium.

Criticism

Alfred Francis Hill, conductor of the Exhibition Orchestra, thought that as a concert venue, the Hall was a "poor affair"¹, both from an acoustic and public point-of-view. It was, he said, "insufferably hot"² when crowded, and it was very difficult to get the right balance of tone "in such a noisy shell of tin and plaster".³

The Exhibition Organ

The Concert Hall also housed the Exhibition organ, built by Ingram & Co. at a cost of £3235, it was at the time the second largest in the Southern hemisphere. It was a four-manual concert organ, with 63 stop-keys, and employed the Hope-Jones ’double-touch’ system, which permits both a solo and an accompaniment to be played upon one and the same manual. After the Exhibition, the organ was gifted to the people of Christchurch by the Government. Because the city had no town hall at the time, it was installed in His Majesty’s Theatre, where it remained until November 1917, when both building and organ were unfortunately destroyed by fire.

Related photos

Another view showing the crowd in the main hall awaiting the opening ceremonies	The Exhibition choir and orchestra
A view of the audience in the main hall during the performance of the ode	Erecting the electro-pneumatic organ in the Concert Hall for the New Zealand International Exhibition in Hagley Park, Christchurch

Sources

• Cowan, J. Official record of the New Zealand International Exhibition of Arts and Industries held at Christchurch, 1906-7
• "The Orchestra and its Conductor", The Star, 15 April 1907, p. 1
• Tucker, F. K. J. C. Bradshaw: a memoir, page 19-21

Related links

• Entertainments & Exhibits: Music
• Joseph Clarkson Maddison in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
• Alfred Francis Hill in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

Footnotes

• [1] "The Orchestra and its Conductor", The Star, 15 April 1907, p. 1
• [2]"The Orchestra and its Conductor", The Star, 15 April 1907, p. 1
• [3] "The Orchestra and its Conductor", The Star, 15 April 1907, p. 1