Funded by a bequest from a whisky blender, the Usher Hall is Edinburgh's grandest concert hall, standing on Lothian Road in the west end of the city. The distiller Andrew Usher, sometimes called the father of Scottish whisky for perfecting blending techniques, gifted 100,000 pounds to the city in 1896 to create a great public concert venue, though he died in 1898, sixteen years before his dream was realised. After a long delay caused largely by the difficulty of finding a suitable site, a design competition was held in 1910 and won, from 130 entries, by Stockdale Harrison and Howard H. Thomson of Leicester, whose classical design with Beaux-Arts influences fulfilled the brief for something simple but dignified. King George V and Queen Mary laid foundation stones in 1911, and the finished building, which cost around 134,000 pounds, was officially opened by Usher's widow in March 1914. The Edwardian hall is celebrated for its outstanding acoustics, with unusual curved walls, a domed roof and an ornate interior centred on a grand organ that was restored to its full glory in 2002. It can hold approximately 2,200 people in an auditorium much loved by performers, and a major renovation completed in 2010 restored and modernised the building while preserving its character. Over the decades the Usher Hall has hosted an immense variety of events, from national and international orchestras to popular concerts, and it serves as a principal venue of the Edinburgh International Festival. It also staged the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972, the first time that event was held in Scotland, and provided the boxing arena for the 1986 Commonwealth Games. Owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council and flanked by the Royal Lyceum and Traverse theatres, the Category A listed hall remains Scotland's only five-star concert venue. More than a century after a whisky magnate's gift made it possible, it continues to host music of all genres in one of the city's most admired buildings.

Type: Theater / Concert Hall

Address: Lothian Road, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, EH1 2EA

Telephone: 0131 228 1155

Website: https://www.usherhall.co.uk

Capacity: 2200

Opening Date: 16/03/1914