Music Centre of Christchurch

Christchurch City, New Zealand

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

The Music Centre of Christchurch was a music facility established in 1994 within a complex of heritage buildings in central Christchurch, New Zealand, adjacent to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. The centerpiece was a chapel built in 1907 and designed by Joseph Munnings in partnership with Samuel Hurst Seager and Cecil Wood—one of the Southern Hemisphere's rare examples of Byzantine Revival architecture, which served as the primary performance space. The complex comprised four heritage structures, including a three-storey main convent building designed by Francis Petre in 1882 and opened in 1894, the Portery added in 1902, and a girls' boarding hostel from 1930, all formerly part of the Catholic Sacred Heart College and its associated convent. The centre provided office, rehearsal, tuition, and performance spaces for numerous music organizations, notably the Christchurch School of Music with approximately 800 weekly students. Severe damage from the February 2011 earthquake necessitated relocation; the main building was demolished, and operations moved to a purpose-built facility called The Piano on Antigua Street.