The new concert hall, which has been discussed in Brno for decades, has received support from personalities such as Milan Kundera, Milan Uhde, Maxim Velčovský and Kateřina Tučková. The patron of the hall is Magdalena Kožená.
In the future, the hall for Brno, the makeshift name of which is Janáček Cultural Centre, should become the home of the Brno Philharmonic. The ensemble with more than 100 members currently operates in the substandard conditions of Besední dům (Concert Hall) and the Janáček Theatre, which it leases for its concerts and which is not acoustically satisfactory.
The Concert Hall for Brno Declaration, which calls for the construction of the hall, was created two years ago. The declaration already bears the signatures of many Czech artists including personalities such as Milan Kundera, who personally signed the declaration in Paris, as well as artists from the music world such as singer Iva Bittová, violoncellist Jiří Bárta, conductors Jakub Hrůša, Aleksandar Marković and Tomáš Netopil, as well as Brno playwright Milan Uhde, writer Kateřina Tučková, designer Maxim Velčovský and fashion designer Liběna Rochová. Alena Veselá, JAMU Rector Emeritus, founder and chairwoman of the Spolek pro výstavbu koncertního sálu (Association for the Construction of a Concert Hall) has been fighting for the hall for several years.
There have been negotiations about the construction of the hall in recent days with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and Minister of Culture Daniel Herman. The financing concept is currently being prepared, while not only the city but also the region and the state are in favour of it.
The patron of the concert hall is Brno-born mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená. Her manager and producer David Dittrich, who also supported the Declaration, said about the current situation: "We have been organising concerts of major artists in Brno for many years, but we have been failing to attract the world’s biggest celebrities to come to Brno. They do not want to perform in Janáček Theatre for acoustic reasons and the capacity of Besední dům (Concert Hall) is inadequate. The construction of the new hall would solve this problem and Brno would definitely become one of the European capitals of music."
Deputy Mayor of Brno Matěj Hollan said about the current situation: "After a meeting with the Minister of Culture and the President of the South Moravian Region, Brno sent the investment plan with detailed information about the project to both parties. We will discuss the final text of the construction financing memorandum with representatives of the region." In the near future, the city will announce a tender for the supplier of the building permit documentation. "Therefore, everything is heading in the direction of us being about to build the hall," he added.
The new hall is planned to stand on the corner of the Besední and Veselá Streets. It will offer a capacity of 1,250 seats and a world-class acoustic performance. The total cost is budgeted to reach CZK 1.276 billion. The city intends to begin construction at the end of 2017 to continuously follow up on the first stage, i.e. construction of underground parking for nearly 200 cars.
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