We’re thrilled to welcome BBC Radio 3’s Friday Night is Music Night to Brighton Dome Concert Hall tonight! The BBC Concert Orchestra will play a programme celebrating Brighton Dome, and the vibrant cultural role it has played in the city over the past 150 years. Read on to find out more about the venue’s heritage…
When Queen Victoria sold the Royal Pavilion Estate in 1850, the future of its buildings hung in the balance: there was a strong chance that the former royal stables would be demolished. After a successful petition, local government purchased the estate, securing its future in public ownership. This gave the building a new purpose, and it was transformed into a Concert Hall and Assembly Rooms: Brighton Dome as we know it now. Brighton Borough Surveyor Philip Lockwood oversaw the conversion, retaining the dramatic scale of the building while introducing a richly decorated Moorish interior, complete with stained-glass windows and a magnificent gas-powered chandelier. Around 3,000 people could be accommodated, seated on rows of cane chairs and wooden benches. The transformation and its lavish décor cost approximately £10,000, including £1,950 for a grand organ built by the London firm Willis & Co, widely regarded as one of the greatest British organ producers of the Victorian era. The venue opened with an inaugural concert on 5 June 1867.
The new venue quickly established itself as one of Britain's leading concert halls. Czech pianist and composer Wilhelm Kuhe founded the Brighton Musical Festival, held in the Concert Hall between 1871 and 1882. Thanks to his extensive musical connections, Kuhe attracted many of the world's leading performers, including Adelina Patti, Christina Nilsson and Clara Schumann. Festival premieres included J. F. Barnett's The Good Shepherd (1876) and Frederic Clay's Lalla Rookh (1877).
The Brighton Musical Festival was revived in 1907 under the direction of Joseph Sainton and continued until 1914. Highlights included Samuel Coleridge-Taylor conducting Hiawatha's Wedding Feast (1908) and Sir Edward Elgar conducting The Dream of Gerontius (1909). Other distinguished conductors to appear during this period included Sir Edward German, Sir Henry Wood and Sir Thomas Beecham.
In August 1921, Brighton Dome welcomed the Southern Syncopated Orchestra for a four-week residency, marking the arrival of jazz at the venue. Founded by the American composer and violinist Will Marion Cook, the orchestra was among the first jazz ensembles to tour Britain and Ireland. Among its members were the pioneering clarinettist Sidney Bechet and singer Evelyn Dove. The decades that followed saw many of the greatest names in jazz appear at the Concert Hall, including Count Basie in1957. Ella Fitzgerald also appeared twice during the 1960s, performing with both Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington.
The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) was founded by Herbert Menges in May 1925 as the Symphonic String Players. The orchestra made the Concert Hall its home in 1928, adopted the name Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra in 1958, and continues to present an annual concert season at Brighton Dome today. Menges enjoyed close associations with Sir Thomas Beecham and Ralph Vaughan Williams, both of whom served as Presidents of the BPO. Under the artistic leadership of Joanna MacGregor CBE, the orchestra celebrated its centenary season in 2024–25.
From Clara Schumann to Ella Fitzgerald, Sir Edward Elgar to the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, generations of musicians have helped shape the Concert Hall's remarkable musical heritage. As BBC Radio 3's Friday Night is Music Night comes to Brighton Dome, it becomes the latest chapter in a story that began more than 159 years ago.
