What to expect on your visit

First time attending a live concert or just your first time visiting us?

Here's everything that you can expect on your visit...

 

Where to find us?

While we're definitely not just for students and staff, our beautiful concert hall is accessed through University of Leeds' School of Music. Our address is Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, School of Music, 12 Cavendish Road, LS2 9JT.

When you arrive

When you arrive at the School of Music, head into reception where a member of our team will be set up. Get your tickets ready to scan or be ready to book your ticket. Our staff will need some personal information from you to get you booked in. If it's a paid event or you want to make a donation, please remember that we're a cashless organisation and can only take card payments.

Get signed in and pick up a programme from the front desk.

You'll now head past reception, up a small set of stairs (or use the lift to access the 'upper ground' floor. Head through the double doors (toilets are just to the right of these), and then take a left. You're now in our wonderful Clothworkers Bar.

Clothworkers Bar

Clothworkers Bar is a great place to relax and chat to friends before a concert. We'll always open half an hour before start time so please come in and get yourself settled. We have a range of drinks and snacks available to purchase, as well as free tea and coffee.

At the other end of the hall you'll find the doors to our concert hall. 10-15 minutes before the concert is due to start, a member of staff will open these doors and you can go in and take a seat. You are welcome to take your drink in with you.

Here's what our usual bar menu looks like: water, cow's milk, oat/soy milk, filter coffee, English breakfast tea, orange juice, tonic, slimline tonic, diet coke, coke, lemonade, ginger ale, bottled lagers (e.g. Peroni), Kirkstall Brewery lagers and ales, Aspinall's cider, vodka, bourbon, scotch, rum, gin, white wine (house only), red wine (house only), Pringles, Northen Bloc ice-cream, and Borders biscuits.

Inside the hall

Seating isn't allocated so please choose your favourite place and get comfortable. If you wish to sit on the balcony, turn left before the main seating and head to the back of the hall and up the stairs.

When it's time for the concert to start, the main doors will be closed and the lights over the audience will be dimmed.

We would ask that you turn your phones off during performances so as to not disturb performers or other audience members.

Latecomers

Running late? Don't worry - as long as the concert doesn't only consist of one piece, latecomers are welcome. Please speak to a member of staff who will let you know when it is okay to enter the concert hall. Please only enter during moments of applause or at the interval. We would ask that if you are late, you sit up on the balcony so you don't need to cross the performance space.

Usual concert etiquette for formal performances

There are some unwritten rules that concert goers like to follow when attending performances. These tend to be more related to formal classical performances, for things like Jazz and more casual concerts in our bar, things are more relaxed.

1. Please turn your phone off and try not to make too much noise while people are performing.
2. Many classical music pieces contain multiple movements, or shorter sections. Multiple movement pieces will be listed as such in the program (example below). Usually, the performers will take a small pause between movements, but sometimes, one movement will flow into the next with no break. Even though the movements in a piece have separate beginnings and endings, there should be a sense of continuity between them to unite the whole piece. Some think that applause disrupts this continuity, which is why it is customary to wait until the entire piece is over.
3. Enjoy the music! The main thing is that you are comfortable and have a good time!

 

Access

Are you wheelchair accessible? Yes! There is disabled parking and step free access to get to the concert hall. We can remove some seating on the front row so you can comfortably fit your wheelchair in if you wish.

Do you have a hearing loop? Sorry - we don't have a hearing loop in our concert hall.

Do you have a quiet room? We don't have a specific room for quiet reflection or decompression in the building, but we can absolutely allocate one for you if needed.

Do you have baby changing facilities? Yes! The disabled toilet on the upper ground floor has changing facilities and is gender neutral.

Do you have gender neutral toilets? We do! The disabled toilet is gender neutral, and there is also a specific gender neutral bathroom on floor two.

Do you have large print programmes? We print our programmes in pt 12. Please let us know in advance if you'd like a large print programme and we can definitely arrange this for you.

Can children attend? Of course! All our events are family friendly unless stated otherwise.