Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall

The Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall (Euskalduna Jauregia, in Basque) is located in the city of Bilbao, in the Basque Country (Spain), beside the Estuary of Bilbao, built in part of the area that was formerly occupied by the Euskalduna shipyards.

It was designed by architects Federico Soriano and Dolores Palacios and work started in 1994. It was opened in February 1999 and contains a variety of spaces, functioning as a conference center, opera house and concert hall. In 2003 it was declared by the International Congress Palace Association as the world's best congress center. This building won the Enric Miralles award and it is in the centre of Bilbao. Euskalduna organizes a wide range of activities, such as: cultural, political, business, academic, social events and so on.^[1] Also hosts the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra (BOS) and was founded in 1920.^[2] The building has other spaces such as: storage space, dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms and so on. Euskalduna has an auditorium inside the building, this auditorium was elegant and well-equipped so that people feel comfortable. The total of seats that hosts this auditorium are 2.164 and this is the excellent place for performances such as: ballets, concerts, opera, and so on.^[3]

It is located on the zone of Abandoibarra, near the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The concert hall is connected to the rest of the city by EuskoTran's Line A, Bilbao Metro Lines 1 and 2 and Cercanías Bilbao lines C1 and C2. It is located in the centre of the city and activities like BAO are well-regarded. The ABAO opera season is the major event in this building.^[4]

Performance and other facilities

• Auditorium, with 2,164 seats, is used for opera productions by the ABAO (Asociación Bilbaína de Amigos de la Ópera / The Bilbao Association of Friends of Opera) and the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. It has the largest stage of any theatre in Europe with 1,770 sq. metres.
• Theatre with 614 seats. Is the most important place and is destined to several meetings and events. It has direct access to the Exhibition Hall and has an excellent acoustics. Due to this excellent acoustic, this room can hosts different performances and musical events.^[5]
• Four Conference Rooms with two seating 230 and 270 and two seating 103 and 130
• Eight other meeting rooms
• A Press Room
• A restaurant: Euskalduna centre has two restaurants. One of both restaurants had received a Michelin prize. Etxanobe restaurant had received an award Michelin prize.^[6]
• An Exhibition Hall: This space has 4,200 metre squared. This space is ussually divide in two halls with spaces that are destined to events, exhibitios, concerts, urban fairs and so on. The open space provides more facilities to organize different events.^[7]
• A commercial gallery.

In 2003 it was rewarded by the International Congress Palace Association as the world's best congress center.

See also

• List of concert halls
• List of opera houses

References

External links

• Official site
• ABAO opera company's website (in English)