We thought it worth pausing for a moment to explain ourselves a bit. This is our story. There's a more detailed timeline under each venue's history.
Horsecross is a new organisation that's grown out of an old one — Perth Theatre. The change began as the Millennium was approaching. Perth's great and good came to a great and good decision. To build a great concert hall that would be as good as any other.
The seeds were planted. A few years passed. Out of hallowed soil that once cushioned the footsteps of passing monks, been enriched with droppings of horses going to market and absorbed the spills from a dye works, emerged Perth Concert Hall. (All on time and on budget, for the record.)
Horse of a different colour
Now who would run this magnificent venue? Perth Theatre seemed the obvious choice — well, they are neighbours, they both 'do' arty stuff and sell tickets. But the theatre is a 460 auditorium with a loyal following and the concert hall is three times that size with — at that time — no following.
A new approach
Perth Theatre had to make a step change — from a trot to a canter. A new chief exec joined to bring vision and drive to the project and find the right team to deliver. New board members, a creative team and marketing and conferencing experts brought fresh ideas, inspiration, excellence. A horse of a different colour. Horsecross was born.
(And the moment was marked by the creation of brand marques by the talented team at Graven Images who created the logos for Horsecross and its two venues.)
We're called Horsecross because the concert hall is built on the site of the once bustling Horsecross market area. We love the name and the idea that through our two venues we are helping to bring the area back to life, helping transform Perth into one of Europe's most successful and dynamic small cities.
Horses for courses
We're here to provide for all the people of Perthshire and beyond, whether they're into Elgar or Elvis, Greek tragedy or stand-up comedy. So 'music' covers everything from world class classical musicians and orchestras to Elvis and Abba tributes. 'Drama' covers classics, new writing, comedy, panto. And on the events programme, look out for fairs and festivals, strongmen and women, clairvoyants and healers.
No one trick pony
We determined from the start to be diverse. That's why we've introduced a bit of dance, film, talks. And it was this determination that led to us set up Threshold artspace. We could have hung paintings in the foyer and everyone would have been happy. But we've got dreams. So we raised half a million pounds, put amazing technology into the building and invented Threshold, Scotland's new centre for contemporary art. It's on a par with only a handful of similar venues in Europe.
Dark horse
Our community programme is huge — it's not an add-on or token gesture; it's central to everything we're doing. We know there are lots of dark horses out there with loads of energy or ideas if they just get the chance to tap into them. We take video artists and DJs onto the streets to work with young folk, bring musicians to work with housebound older folk, take drama out to rural areas and work with single-teacher schools. Our youth theatre is thriving, our community choir is growing, our musical minors flourishing and our community theatre group is now putting on public performances. We're everywhere!
Work horse
And if there's a day when we've no concerts, children's workshops, comedy, musical, talks or dance on the stage of the concert hall, then we'll probably be hosting a conference. We like it busy. We can accommodate conferences, product launches, dinners, meetings, workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions.
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