The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) has revealed details of its new home. The 80-year-old orchestra will move to the BBC Hoddinott Hall at the £106m ($185m) Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff in January 2009.
The state-of-the-art concert hall, which seats 350, will be the orchestra’s base for rehearsals and studio recordings as well as an intimate public concert space. Two gala concerts will launch the new hall in January, with a piece by the man after whom it is named, Alun Hoddinott, who died last year.
Said the orchestra’s director, David Murray, “For an orchestra to take possession of its own hall is a unique and very special experience. A good hall not only provides a home for an orchestra but defines its character and, more importantly, embodies its sound.”
Since 1967, the orchestra has been based in Studio 1 at the BBC studios in Llandaff, Cardiff and has performed at St. David’s Hall in Cardiff, where it will continue to perform larger and subscription-based concerts.
After an opening festival in January, the new season of BBC Hoddinott Hall Events will kick off in February.
