About the new Concert Hall

In 2011, three years after Stavanger celebrated its status as European Capital of Culture, the doors to The Stavanger region’s new Concert Hall will open. The aim is to further develop Bjergsted Music Park into a national powerhouse for music and art. The new Concert Hall will be situated in Sandvigå, and will constitute the heart Bjergsted Music Park, and create fresh connections to the city of Stavanger.

KORO (Public Art Norway) is managing the commission of works of art for the joint council company Nytt konserthus i Stavanger IKS in consultation with The Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs. Nytt konserthus i Stavanger IKS and KORO have appointed an art committee that will plan and carry out the art projects for the new Concert Hall.

The new Concert Hall will contain two performance halls with excellent acoustics. The Orchestra Hall will seat 1500 visitors and the Multipurpose Hall will have a standing capacity of nearly 2000. The Concert Hall will include a spectacular foyer facing the seaside and the forecourt. The Concert Hall will also include a large south-facing amphitheatre suitable for outdoor concerts. In addition to the necessary backstage areas and rehearsal rooms, the Concert Hall will contain a restaurant, café and bars with amazing views. The Concert Hall was built to enable it to simultaneously stage a symphony orchestra in one hall and, for example, a rock concert in the other. The two halls share one foyer. 

Bjergsted Music Park
The Music Park will also be home to a new school of culture and a high school for music and dance, which will join the existing department of Music and Dance at Stavanger University and the Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound. The existing concert hall will be put to other music-related use when the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra moves into the new Concert Hall. The large outdoor amphitheatre will be suitable for concerts and other performances, and can seat several thousand people. 350 sublevel parking spaces will be accommodated underneath the amphitheatre.

From the presentation by Medplan AS Architects:
The building will be situated parallel to the entrance concourse and consists of two spaces with different ambiences: one light and open in glass and a heavy closed one in concrete. The two spaces relate to the identity of the two concert halls, which compliment each other. The light space in glass contains the Multipurpose Hall and the large audience areas, and creates a backdrop to the entrance concourse. The Multipurpose Hall is visible from the entrance and from the public areas. This hall will be used for electronic music, various forms of guest performances, integrated practices and dancing. The hall is articulated as an extension of the foyer at the entry level and functions in relation to it. Parts of the side stage can be opened by way of a gate onto the entrance area and the amphitheatre for outdoor concerts. 

The heavy concrete space contains the Orchestra Hall and provides a backdrop for the foyer area. Visitors’ cloakrooms, performers’ areas, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and the administration are all located here. The Orchestra Hall with is closed ambience complements the Multipurpose Hall and sits in a concrete shell, like an instrument in its case, refined, protected and gradually revealed. The Orchestra Hall will be created without any compromises and is specially adapted for acoustic performances.

For further information see: www.konserthus.no