Description

Melbourne Recital Centre is an award-winning live music venue where artists and audiences build a lifetime of memorable experiences. Since opening in 2009, the Centre has been a major contributor to Australia’s vibrant musical landscape, and is a testament to the passion, vision, and generosity of Melbourne’s music-loving community and hosts hundreds of concerts each year.

The building features two striking performance spaces, carefully crafted by ARM Architecture to bring musicians and music-lovers closer together. The Elisabeth Murdoch Hall is lined with exquisite plywood panels of Australian plantation hoop pine timber, designed to resemble the back of a beautiful instrument and provide greater acoustic intimacy across the 1000-seat auditorium. The platform acoustics enrich the strength, clarity and blending of instruments as well as the communication between ensemble players on stage.

The organic acoustics of the hall extend to the Primrose Potter Salon, an intimate 150-seat performance and event space. Melbourne-born composer Percy Grainger’s 1937 graphic score, Free Music No.2, is inscribed across the surface to inspire players and audiences alike.

Melbourne Recital Centre is ranked amongst the world’s greatest halls for its uncompromised acoustics, designed by leading global firm ARUP Acoustics.

What's On

Explore Melbourne Recital Centre, where live music lives. Join us as we throw open our doors in celebration of our 15th birthday, with an unforgettable installation in the Primrose Potter Salon, take a deep dive into the Centre’s history with guided venue tours, or even grace the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall stage that artists from around the globe have flocked to for it’s unique design and incredible acoustics.

How Do We Remain? An interactive installation by Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey in the Primrose Potter Salon. A sound installation for vintage electronics, software and acoustic instruments, using custom ultrasonic kinetic speakers designed for an audience to be within. 
With ultrasonic speakers mounted on moving gimbals, and live musicians intermittently contributing to the physical and aural space, How Do We Remain? asks, as we live with the cognitive dissonance of how the world is today, can we imagine a discipline of respite and resistance?

Guided Tours of the Centre
Get to know Melbourne Recital Centre with a guided tour where you can get up close to the beauty of the timber-lined Elisabeth Murdoch Hall and learn about the design of our world-class performance spaces. 
During this hour-long tour, you'll get the chance to explore backstage, appreciate the Centre's extensive artwork collection and marvel at the architecture of this fascinating venue.

Join us for a talk with ARM Architecture!
Neil Masterton, Design Director and Andrea Wilson, Interior Design lead at ARM will discuss the design and building of Melbourne Recital Centre.