Teatro Metropolitano José Gutiérrez Gómez
Medellín's main concert hall, a brick building of 1987 and home of the city's philharmonic orchestra.
The theatre grew out of a campaign begun in 1972 by Antioquian business figures who wanted a hall with better acoustics than those available in Medellín at the time. Building went ahead on a site beside the Medellín river, and the house was inaugurated on 19 February 1987. It is named after José Gutiérrez Gómez, one of the promoters of the project. The architectural direction was by Ariel Escobar Llanos, working from an initial scheme by Óscar Mesa, and the exterior is faced almost entirely in local brick.
The auditorium seats about 1,634 people, with roughly 1,262 in the stalls and 372 in the balcony, and was planned around symphonic sound. It is the base of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín, which gives its subscription series here, and it also hosts opera, choral and chamber concerts, popular music, dance and family programmes. Rehearsal rooms and teaching spaces occupy the lower floors, and guided tours of the building can be arranged outside performance times.
Highlights
- Auditorium of about 1,634 seats designed for symphonic sound
- Home of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín
- Brick-clad building inaugurated on 19 February 1987
- Guided tours of backstage areas by arrangement
