The Great Hall

Winner of Best New Building Outside the Conservation Area and Most Innovation Solution to our Climate and Ecological Emergency at the Canterbury Society Awards 2021.

Our award-winning auditorium

Our new auditorium, the Great Hall, is an impressive 600-seat auditorium that provides cutting-edge facilities for worship, concerts and the performing arts. The Great Hall is an important step for Kent College in building a world-class campus, and it is used as a versatile and practical space for the school’s highly regarded Drama and Music departments, as well as for the wider local community.

The purpose engineered space draws on the latest in architectural design, with the ability to expand or contract its foyer, reducing the seating capacity from 600 to 389 for smaller performances, and creating space for exhibitions, galleries or event entertaining. The building itself has a low-energy passive labyrinth heating and ventilation system, photovoltaic cells and is built to comply with the highest level of sustainability standards.

"The Great Hall allows our students to gather for worship and to showcase their musical, theatrical and performance talents within a world-class theatre."
- Head, Mr Mark Turnbull

The Great Hall is now available for event hire

Recent events have included the Canterbury Festival, The London Welsh Male Voice Choir and the University of Kent Musical Theatre Society. If you are interested in booking the Great Hall for an event, please complete the Booking Enquiry Form below and return to greathall@kentcollege.co.uk

Booking Enquiry Form

Canterbury Festival

For the past 4 years Kent College have been the Headline Sponsor of the Canterbury Festival. With a shared passion for musical and academic excellence, Kent College has enabled the Festival to develop emerging artists, showcase the very best in performance, deliver community participatory projects and provide opportunities for young people to explore and develop their creative talent.

The Kent College Lecture has proven to be a highlight of the Festival’s Talks programme. Expert speakers have included award-winning architect Ptolemy Dean, the BBC ‘s Sky at Night presenter Chris Lintott, author and physicist Jim Al-Khalili and Springwatch presenter Megan McCubbin. These engaging events have provided a unique opportunity for both general audiences and Kent College students to hear directly from and engage with experts in their fields. Pupils were invited to attend all events and take part in exclusive Q&A sessions.

The Great Hall is a huge hit with artists and audiences alike, who provide glowing feedback on its contemporary design, satisfying acoustics and excellent accessibility and welcomes national and international acts including Matt Ford and the Chris Ingham Trio, Barbara Dickson and Nick Holland as well as classical ensembles Classico Latino, the Sacconi Quartet and Festival Chamber Orchestra; flamenco virtuoso Eduardo Niebla; theatre and performance companies Bumper Blyton, Graffiti Classics and Mig Kimpton; as well as a series of speakers including Kadie Kanneh-Mason.

In addition to live public events, the Great Hall also plays a crucial part in the Festival’s digital activities – hosting the 2020 Young Musicians’ Bursary Competition Final. Five talented young musicians performed on the Great Hall stage and received feedback from the Festival’s judges. Each performance was filmed and released digitally during the Festival between 19 – 23 October. These films demonstrate why supporting young musicians is so important and the role that facilities such as the Great Hall play in their career development.

The Great Hall - our Chapel and home for the Performing Arts at KC

The Hall is used on a regular basis for the whole College to come together for Chapel and Assembly. It also provides the perfect flexible space for our 5 choirs, 7 instrumental groups, 11 drama performances a year and of course our annual Arts' Week. Our musicals have had up to 350 students on stage simultaneously with the School Orchestra based in the flexible orchestra pit. Recent performances have included our Spring Concert and My Fair Lady.

Great Hall Naming Opportunities

The school has been fortunate to receive a number of special donations to help put the financial building blocks into place to create the Great Hall. There are a variety of different naming opportunities that are being made available to students, KC families, staff, Old Canterburians or local businesses, from naming a brick to sponsoring a whole balcony. You can find details of all the various naming initiatives below. If you would like more information or would like to discuss the potential of naming the auditorium please contact marketing@kentcollege.co.uk

Download Brochure

Item	Donation	Benefits
	£350	Your chosen name (max. 45 letters) will be inscribed on to a plaque and placed on the back of the seat
	£250
	£150	Your chosen name (max. 45 letters) will be inscribed onto a plaque on the brick. First 140 bricks purchased will be in the main foyer
	£2,000	Your chosen inscription on an architectural bench
	£5,000	Your chosen names (max. 45 letters) will be inscribed on plaques and placed on the back of 16 or 20 seats each, plus a plaque on the wall 60cm x 60cm
	£5,000	Your chosen name (max. 45 letters) will be inscribed on to a plaque and displayed on the organ casing