Brno, after decades of preparation, has announced a tender for the construction of a concert hall

Brno – The leadership of Brno today made another step towards the construction of a concert hall. In the newly announced tender, it is looking for a contractor for the construction that the Brno Philharmonic has been waiting for decades. The hall will be located in the city center between Veselá and Besední streets, where underground garages were built from 2015 to 2018. The city council informed about the tender process after its meeting today. The representatives of the Philharmonic welcomed the decision.

The value of the contract amounts to 2.4 billion Czech crowns excluding value-added tax, with the possibility of considering inflation. The state had previously promised to provide 600 million crowns. The tender process is expected to last nine months. Construction should therefore begin next year and be completed in 2026.

The contract follows this year's agreement with the owner of the neighboring Hotel International, which allows the city to acquire land with an old transformer station near the concert hall and land with a staircase. "The technological facilities will be outside the main building, which will reduce the risk of vibrations, and a new square named after the first rector of JAMU, Ludvík Kundera, will be created at the corner of Besední and Veselé," said the mayor of Brno, Markéta Vaňková.

The contract will also include the technical equipment of the hall, such as sound systems, interpreting booths, lighting, and projection equipment. Interiors and organs will be separately tendered. Newly elected representative Matěj Hollan (Žít Brno) criticizes the announced tender for the unresolved organ issue. According to him, it is not possible to responsibly tender for the construction as a whole before the organ project is finalized, which he claims he has been pointing out in vain. He has called for a professional colloquium, for example.

"I am very shocked that this did not happen, and a few days after the elections, the coalition forcefully approved it, even though they were informed about this fundamental deficiency," said Hollan.

The Philharmonic plans to hold 40 of its own concerts in the hall each season, and other concerts and events, such as conferences, may also take place there. The hall will have a capacity of 1,200 seats, which is about three times that of the Besední Hall, the current home of the Philharmonic. A more than hundred-member orchestra will be able to perform in Brno at full capacity, additionally in top acoustic conditions.

"After excellent concerts in Salzburg and ahead of a major British tour, where several top halls await us, the orchestra and I particularly realize how much we need a modern new hall for the further development of the ensemble and for the perfect experience of the audience," said Marie Kučerová, the director of Filharmonie Brno, in response to a question from ČTK.