Elder Hall

Nice venue for small shows, however with a full crowd the toilets are way too cramped. The seats are a little uncomfortable also. However it is pretty easy to see the stage from everywhere and the organ is lovely. I hope they think about upgrading the toilets because they are really bad.

Used to go to the Friday lunchtime concerts, great acoustics.
It is also a beautiful building.

Lovely old hall, the symphony orchestra were brilliant. The gallery seats are a bit of a squeeze.

Have seen some great music performances here and sounded amazing. Great venue with high wooden ceilings and church like atmosphere.

Got mixed feelings about this hall.many years ago sat down for exams here. It was much better place to listen to live classical music played by Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Seats need refurbishment

Beautiful hall, great acoustics but take a cushion to sit on as the second seats get a little uncomfortable.

Acoustics in this hall is not good: much reflections from the walls, and a very high gabled ceiling. So one has to sit close to the stage to have an acceptable sound quality.

The simplicity of the stone exterior of Elder Hall gives little indication of the richness of its interior hammer beam ceiling and the resonance of its Casavant Freres organ. Named after Sir Thomas Elder, the building was the first constructed at the University of Adelaide as a result of his philanthropy. A wealthy businessman and pastoralist, Elder left £65 000 to the university upon his death in 1897, of which £20 000 was devoted to music. Elder loved music, as Governor Sir Thomas Buxton noted at a public meeting on 28 March 1898: ‘Sir Thomas gave large sums to provide the best training in music. He gained pleasure and relief from music, and he desired so to encourage music in our midst that it should be still further disseminated, and that education in this subject should be brought home to the masses’ (Advertiser, 29 March 1898).

By 1897 Elder had already donated substantial amounts to the university for musical education. He contributed funding for a Chair of Music and established an annual scholarship for South Australian students to attend the Royal College of Music in London.

The University Council decided that half of his final bequest would be used to establish a Conservatorium of Music and the other half to erect a building to house it. This would enable the training of world-class musicians and provide an important venue for public concerts. At the time the only other major venue for music performance in Adelaide was the Town Hall.

The Council determined that the building would be arranged so as to add to the cultural precinct developing along the northern side of North Terrace east. Elder Hall was sited between and set back from the facades of the Exhibition and Mitchell Buildings, and designed to be in harmony with them. The location of the hall was also intended to encourage clearing up the area, which was littered with the remnants of early colonial structures.

Elder Hall was designed in a Florentine Gothic style by architect Frank John Naish (1844–1904) and constructed by North Adelaide-born master builder Walter Charles Torode (1858–1937). Freestone for most of the building came from Torode’s quarry at Stirling West. The dressings, quoins and turrets were made of Mount Gambier freestone. The Hall’s interior featured an open hammer beam roof with 13 large principals and polished timber ceiling. The concert hall was designed to seat 1000 people, with an orchestra and chorus area accommodating up to 300 people. The stage allowed for up to 150 performers. The building also included dressing rooms, teaching rooms on the ground level and in the basement, rooms for the professor and staff, and a smaller performance hall. A pipe organ built by JE Dodd of Twin Street, Adelaide was added to the main hall soon after the building’s completion.

The foundation stone for Elder Hall was laid by Governor Buxton with great ceremony on 26 September 1898. The handle of the silver trowel used in the laying of the stone ‘was made from a portion of the historic gumtree at Glenelg’ (South Australian Register, 27 September 1898;29 September 1898).

Elder Hall was unofficially opened with a concert on 27 April 1900 before ‘a representative and fashionable audience’ of more than 1000. The official opening on 26 September 1900 was attended by the new governor, Lord Tennyson. Elder Hall quickly became an important venue for meetings, concerts, recitals and student balls. It was used for all university exams and degree ceremonies until Bonython Hall was completed in 1936.