Sapporo Concert Hall 3.15

Sapporo Concert Hall, also known as its nickname Kitara, is a municipal musical venue located in Nakajima Park, Chūō-ku, Sapporo, Japan. Established in 1997, the building is owned by Sapporo City, known for having a huge organ built by Alfred Kern & Fils Manufacture D'Orgues in the main music hall. When Simon Rattle visited with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 1998, he described the hall as "the best modern concert hall in the world".OverviewThe building was built on July 4, 1997. Prior to its construction, the nickname for the concert hall "Kitara" had been chosen in March 1995. The nickname is derived from "Kithara", an ancient Greek musical instrument in the zither family, and also the term "Kita", which means "north" in Japanese. The building area covers 8,383,291 m² in total, the number of floors is 3 above ground and 2 underground, and the Hokkaido Engineering Consultants Co.,Ltd is the main builder for the concert hall.The concert hall is home to the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra, and its regular concert is held in the hall each year. The hall is one of the venues of the Pacific Music Festival (PMF), an event started with the idea of Leonard Bernstein in 1990.