Across from the Nakajima Sports Center on the West side of Nakajima Park and about a 10 minute walk from the Nakajima Subway Station is the Kitara Concert Hall, Sapporo’s premier classical music performance venue and home of the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. Opened in 1997, the Concert Hall houses a large main hall, small chamber music hall, rehearsal rooms, nursery room, museum shop and ground floor restaurant with terrace which features a bar and cafe, open during concerts.
The arena-style main hall is 28,800 m³ and has a capacity of 2,008 seats which surround the open stage. The dynamic curves of the walls are made using local Hokkaido pine and showcase Hokkaido’s finest woodworking skills. These huge sound-reflecting boards are lit by dazzling chandeliers, adding to the elegance and excellent sound qualities of the hall.
The chamber music hall has 343 standard seats on the first floor and 110 balcony seats in the traditional shoebox-style. It’s an excellent environment for performances of chamber music, piano and Japanese traditional music, as well as vocal recitals.
A huge pipe organ is installed above the main hall. The organ was manufactured by Alfred Kern & Fils Manufacture D’Orgues based in Strasbourg, France, and an exclusive organ player is invited from overseas for annual performances. The pipe organ has 4,976 pipes and is modelled after the pine trees native to Hokkaido.
Performances are held almost daily, with several large events held every year including the Pacific Music Festival (PMF), an event started by Leonard Bernstein in 1990.
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