The Wigmore Hall is a British music venue in West London, active under its current name since 1917. Originally established as Bechstein Concert Hall in May 1901, it was designed by architect Thomas Edward Collcutt (1840—1924) and constructed by German piano manufacturer, C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik, which had an adjacent showroom on Wigmore Street. The "C. Bechstein" company, launched by Carl Bechstein (1826—1900) in 1853, heavily relied on export and foreign clientele since its early days. Bechstein ran a prolific London piano dealership since 1889 and invested £100,000 in constructing the concert venue (over £10 million in today's currency). In June 1916, the government seized Bechstein Concert Hall, alongside all the company's British assets, as "enemy property." Debenhams purchased the venue at a foreclosure auction for only £56,500 and relaunched it as "Wigmore Hall" in 1917.
Some of the notable musicians who performed at Wigmore Hall include Ferruccio Busoni, Eugène Ysaÿe, Artur Schnabel, Pablo de Sarasate, Percy Grainger, Myra Hess, Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Rosing, Alexander Siloti, Camille Saint-Saëns, Max Reger, Marian Anderson, Paul Hindemith, Benjamin Britten, Francis Poulenc, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Victoria De Los Angeles, Sergei Prokofiev, Shura Cherkassky, Andrés Segovia, and Peter Pears. Wigmore Hall also has commissioned numerous new music works since 2009, by contemporary composers like Luke Bedford, artist, George Benjamin, Huw Watkins, Thomas Larcher, Elliott Carter, Brett Dean, Kevin Volans, artist, Jörg Widmann, Vijay Iyer, Peter Eötvös, Anna Meredith, Nico Muhly, Wolfgang Rihm, and Judith Weir.
Wigmore Hall artistic directors
John Gilhooly (since 2005)
Paul Kildea (2003—2005)
William Lyne (1966—2003)