De Montfort Hall

De Montfort Hall stands in Leicester beside Victoria Park. It is the city’s largest music and performance venue, named after Simon de Montfort, the 13th-century Earl of Leicester who is called the Father of Parliament. The building was designed by Shirley Harrison, a Leicester architect who also created Edinburgh’s Usher Hall. Construction began in 1912 and finished the following year, when the hall opened on 21 July 1913. Inside is a fine pipe organ built by Stephen Taylor & Son Ltd, installed in 1914 and still in use today. The hall’s indoor auditorium seats about two thousand people and hosts a wide range of events. Performances include popular music, comedy, opera, ballet, world and roots music, West End musicals, and classical concerts. The Leicester Symphony Orchestra, founded by Sir Malcolm Sargent in 1922, gives four concerts each season. The Philharmonia Orchestra has held a residency here since 1997, and the Leicester Philharmonic Choir and Bardi Symphony Orchestra also perform regularly. The hall stages the Hindu festival of Navratri and has hosted graduation ceremonies for the University of Leicester since 1958. Outside, the hall’s gardens provide space for festivals and events. The auditorium itself has seen many famous acts over the years. Buddy Holly and The Crickets played in March 1958, The Beatles performed three times between 1963 and 1964, and Bob Dylan appeared on 2 May 1965. Genesis recorded much of their 1973 live album here, and Iron Maiden played six concerts between 1980 and 1990. Marillion recorded parts of their first live album in the hall, and Keane gave a concert there on 25 September 2019.