National Concert Hall

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The National Concert Hall, or NCH, is a concert hall on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin. It is the principal venue in the Republic of Ireland for classical music concerts. It is located on Earlsfort Terrace, close to St. Stephen's Green. The building was built for the Dublin International Exhibition of 1865, and converted into the central building of University College Dublin (UCD) at the foundation of the National University of Ireland in 1908. When UCD began to relocate to a new campus at Belfield in the 1960s, the building was converted and reopened as the NCH in 1981. The site of the NCH is still shared with UCD, who still use some of the the buildings to the rear of the main edifice.

Although its facade is quite impressive, the venue's acoustics have been criticized. It is also unsuited for large-scale opera stagings. Calls for a purpose-built venue are consequently made from time to time. Due to its central location, lunchtime concerts and recitals are common and attended by many workers from nearby office buildings. In summer, outdoor recitals are given in the adjacent Iveagh Gardens.

The National Concert Hall actually consists of three venues:

Main Auditorium - seating 1200 - for large scale concerts and some operas. The Hall was converted from use as an examination hall when the building was the headquarters of UCD. There is a magnificent concert organ set as a background to the stage, which was designed to compliment the surrounding architecture of the Hall. It was installed in 1991 in time for the 10th anniversary of the NCH's opening. The stage area is considered small, making large opera performances impossible at the NCH. Therefore, they usually have to be accommodated in one of the city's other venues like The Point Theatre or "the theatre" in The Helix (which by contrast has one of the largest stages in Ireland).

John Field Room - seating 250 - used for small scale recitals and as an exhibition space.

Carolan Room - seating 100 - mainly for intimate music recitals.

In 2002 The Helix (which is located on the campus of Dublin City University) was opened as a rival performance space in Dublin. The main auditorium, the Mahony Hall, is a purpose built 1260 seater concert hall and its acoustics are said to be superior to those of the National Concert Hall.

The resident orchestra is the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.