Usher Hall
Edinburgh’s grand Edwardian concert hall.
The Usher Hall is Edinburgh's main concert hall, on Lothian Road in the city's West End. It was paid for with a gift of £100,000 from the whisky distiller and blender Andrew Usher. A design competition in 1910 attracted 130 entries and was won by Stockdale Harrison and Howard H. Thomson of Leicester. Their domed, classical building opened in 1914 and is now Category A listed.
The hall seats about 2,200 people and hosts classical concerts, rock and pop, comedy, dance and spoken word. The City of Edinburgh Council owns and runs it. In 1972 it hosted the first Eurovision Song Contest held in Scotland, and a modern extension was added in 2010. It stands between the Royal Lyceum and Traverse theatres at the heart of the city's cultural quarter.
Highlights
- Edwardian Beaux-Arts auditorium seating around 2,200
- Hosted the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest
- Organ Gallery seating behind the stage
- Striking modern extension added in 2010
