Page 69 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

"The hall was owned and run by the county council as it then was and staffed
by them. There were lots of Philharmonic concerts but there wasn't much else.

"The rest of the time the hall was dark, except for one week in the summer

when the university used it for graduations. Now you look at it, this is the
second building on this site that's been built for us. The previous one from

1993 was knocked down in 2015 because it wasn't up to what we needed for

the music room."

Richard Wallace joined the Orchestra on September 3, 1979, as a Section

Player Viola. He told the ECHO: "The hall used to be dark for most of its time.

"Now, probably five or six days a week, this hall is being used. In a busy week,

we are getting a dozen shows in - that's extraordinary.

"The area around here, when I first got here was fairly abandoned and

desolate. That's utterly changed. I think we’ve brought a lot of people in, and

the Everyman and the surrounding universities."

Liverpool Philharmonic retiring musician Jonathan Small, in
rehearsals(Image: Photo by Colin Lane)

Rob Shepley joined the Orchestra on April 2, 1984, as Principal Viola, with
Alex Marks joining the following year as Section Player 1st Violin on October