News & Stories
Mon 23 Feb 2026
We were thrilled to welcome Her Majesty Queen Camilla to Smith Square Hall on Thursday 19 February.
Her Majesty, who is our Royal Patron, watched 26 young scholars from the Tri-Borough Music Hub perform with Sinfonia Smith Square under the baton of conductor Tess Jackson. The music performed included the first movement from Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony, Dani Howard’s Matchmaker, and an arrangement of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy.
Playing alongside a more senior orchestra is amazing. They have so much experience and it’s a chance I never thought I’d have.
Taonga Mphande Violinist, Tri-Borough Music Hub
Shortly before the performance, the Queen viewed a selection of our hall’s archive photographs and programmes in the crypt. These included images from the funeral of Emmeline Pankhurst in June 1928, the interior of the building after it was bombed on the final night of the Blitz, and the building once it was restored and reopened as a concert hall in 1969.
Her Majesty also heard about our £20 million Doors Open restoration project, which includes creating a new Learning Studio in the venue. This dedicated educational space will support an ambitious Learning and Participation programme, engaging over 10,000 people each year.
Within close proximity to the Hall are some of the most affluent streets in the country but also some of the most economically deprived. Widening access to high quality arts to all is at the heart of the Doors Open project.
The Hall’s new Learning Studio will provide children from up and down the country access to high quality musical education. Additionally, it will offer early years music sessions for under-fives and dementia-friendly concerts for older members of the community.
As we were able to show today, we are focused resolutely on securing the heritage of this extraordinary building and opening it up to communities who have never had access to it. There are thousands of children growing up in the surroundings of this hall who do not have access to high quality musical education and Doors Open will change that.
Tracy Long CBE Chair of Trustees, Sinfonia Smith Square
