Universal Hall Promotions
Universal Hall Promotions is a Social Enterprise company promoting events mostly at the Universal Hall venue in the Findhorn Community’s Park site in Moray – about three quarters of a mile before Findhorn Village proper. The Universal Hall building is owned by the Findhorn Foundation but Universal Hall Promotions is an entirely independent company, funded by Creative Scotland to promote artistic events of high quality to the local community. It has a trading agreement with the Findhorn Foundation and rents the Universal Hall theatre on a regular basis with its office located in that building
Universal Hall Promotions hosts a variety of events and performances throughout the year including concerts of all kinds: contemporary music, Scottish traditional music, classical evenings with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Scottish Opera, dramatic performances from many touring theatre companies and a range of comedy, dance, film and children’s entertainment.
Tickets are usually online. Concession prices are for seniors (over 60’s), registered students, registered unemployed, disabled and their carers, and Phoenix co-workers. Usually there is a third price for U16’s.
Flexible facilties at the Universal Hall also make it an efficient and attractive venue for conference and workshop events, including the Findhorn Foundation’s international conferences. If you are interested in renting the venue then please contact us.
Dancing
We are aware that people often like to get up and dance at our events!
Please always check the website listing for an event to see if it is marked as a ‘seated only’ event.
Where the event is appropriate for dancing, we will leave out ‘reserved for audience members who wish to dance/restricted view‘ signage on the front two rows of chairs. Please be mindful of other audience members, particularly those who wish to enjoy the concert whilst remaining seated. Dance when and where it is appropriate. Please only dance on the auditorium floor, as the aisles and stairs need to be kept clear for Health and Safety purposes. If additional seating has been laid out on the auditorium floor for an event, please do not dance/walk between the front row of the seating and the stage/performance area.
Children
We welcome children to age-appropriate events here at Universal Hall Promotions and where we can, we offer a reduced Under 16 ticket price to actively encourage this. However, we do request that parents/guardians supervise their children throughout the event. If it is a dancing event, whilst children are welcome to dance, the request is that they should sit next to their parent/guardian and be guided as to when it might be accepted as appropriate by the majority of the audience to get up to do so. Please note that no running on the stairs or auditorium floor is allowed. Please also note that children under 12 years of age should be accompanied to the toilets during an event and should never be left unsupervised in the building, for safety reasons.
Food & Drink
When possible, we ask the Phoenix Cafe, Findhorn, to open for pre-show and intermission drinks for our evening shows. We will usually announce in the listings when the cafe will not be open for an event.
Please note that no food and only bottled water is allowed into the auditorium. Please enjoy your cafe treats before you take your seats!
The Universal Hall
The Universal Hall was built as a labour of love by literally thousands of people (mostly visiting or living at Findhorn Foundation Community) in the ten years from 1974 to 1984. Its basic shape is a pentagon and, at its heart, is an auditorium that will seat 300 people comfortably and up to 400 with extra seats on the wooden floor. The Auditorium is primarily used for music, drama, dance and mixed media shows and makes a great conference venue.
Designed by British architect George Ripley, the building has a hand-carved stone exterior facing, a magnificent stained glass entrance, geodesic roof construction and five enormous wooden ring beams hold up the roof.
From the exterior you can get a good view of the glass roof lantern, again pentagonal in shape, giving the building a highly unusual outline. Located at the edge of a sand dune/wilderness area, the Universal Hall was built to be the theatre, conference centre and meeting point for the Findhorn Foundation and Community.
In 2003, The Waterboys recorded an album here and named it after the Hall. Read about it here…
The Auditorium
The auditorium has a thrust stage area (hand-laid beechwood) with the audience on three sides in individual seats. The seats can be removed to create an increased dance area or for conversion to a TV studio. Video and slide projection are available onto a permanent cinema-sized 5 metre wide screen. A full theatre lighting system is controlled by a Strand 200 48-channel mixer with FX. Total Blackout possible.
- 1 x HK audio Actor DX system comprising 2 mid high packs + 4 bass bins.
- It is a digital powered system with presets for band or for disco.
- Output power 3,200 watts.
- Also 4 x HK audio flown speakers, powered by a Lab Gruppen amp,
- Output power 600 watts per side.
- 2 x HKAudio Linear Sub 1800 A, self powered 1200 watts each.
- 2 x HK Audio Linear 3 L3-115-FA, self powered 1200 watts each.
- These separate systems can be linked together to provide an output power of approximately 9,200K watts.
- There are 7 monitor wedges, 2 powered and 5 passive. The sound desk can support 4 mono mixes and 3 stereo mixes.
- The sound desk is an Allen & Heath QU 24 digital sound desk with an Allen &Heath AR2412 Audio rack and 50M Cat 5 cable.
- There is a Steinway Boudoir Grand piano.
- We have a q build staging system.
- The auditorium also contains two of the largest oil canvasses in Europe, specially commissioned works by the late N Haydn Stubbing.
Technical Specifications in Detail
Floor Plan
Lighting
| Description | Wattage | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| Rank T64 spot Profile | 1000 | 2 |
| Rank prelude 28/40 Profile | 650 | 6 |
| Rank Patt. 23 Profile | 500 | 6 |
| CCT Minnette Profile | 650 | 4 |
| Rank 743 Fresnel | 1000 | 1 |
| Rank Patt. 123 Fresnel | 500 | 3 |
| Rank Prelude F Fresnel | 650 | 6 |
| Rank 803 Fresnel | 650 | 4 |
| CCT Minnette PC Pebble convex | 650 | 8 |
| CCT Minnette F Fresnel | 500 | 8 |
The lighting rig is accessed by a skywinder from the floor and a long ladder from the seating area. The Universal Hall does not have a resident lighting technician. The lighting desk can be moved from the lighting booth to a table adjacent to the sound desk.
Dance Studio and Music Room
The dance and drama studio has a sprung floor, exercise bars on three walls and floor-to-ceiling mirrors on the fourth, sound equipment, plus changing rooms with showers. It is used for a variety of classes including contemporary and traditional dance, drama and yoga. Further down the corridor, a music practice room with upright piano and percussion instruments is available for classes, rehearsals and general use by community musicians of all levels of ability.
Phoenix Cafè
Located at the front of the Universal Hall. Interior and exterior seating in the café with a south facing terrace next to a rock garden with water feature. There is a range of cakes and pastries, cappucino machine, selection of vegetarian light lunches, good range of herbal teas. Organic beer and wine available during public performances. Open to the public daily 7 days a week and some evenings in conjunction with performances in the Hall auditorium.
Art Exhibitions
The walls of the café and the upper foyer are sometimes offered as art exhibition space and exhibitions are bookable by arrangement. The manager of the Phoenix Store (which owns the café franchise) should be contacted on 01309 690110 regarding the cafe walls and the Universal Hall Manager contacted on 01309 691170 about the upper foyer wall space.
Universal Hall Promotions is supported by:
