Håkonshallen

The Håkonshallen is 750 years old. It was built for King Håkon Håkonsson as the assembly hall for the royal residence. At that time, Bergen was the most important city in Norway, and the Håkonshallen was the venue for the nation's most important political events, including the establishment of the first code of laws covering the whole kingdom.

The hall is regularly used as a concert venue not only during the Bergen Festival, but throughout the year.

On 3 June 1983, the vocal group The Electric Phoenix performed here Nordheim’s Aurora for four solo singers, crotales and tape. In 1992, an unusual event took place here. A pipe organ recital given by Harald Herreshtal at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheil was transmitted via twelve telephone lines directly into the Håkonshallen, where four percussion groups played in the four corners of the room. On a huge screen, the audience could watch Nidaros Cathedral and listen to the organ music mixing with electroacoustic sounds and drums in the Håkonshallen. As Nordheim later wrote: “The joint playing here at a large distance in space immediately created the image of music as a connecting factor in our lives”.

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