Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay

Address: 1 Esplanade Drive, Singapore 038981

Opening Hours: 8:00-23:30 daily(or 30 minutes after the last performance of the day has ended, whichever is later)

 

Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay

 

Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay is one of the most distinctive modern buildings. Located on prime waterfront land on the shores of Marina Bay, it is a landmark building of Singapore. Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay is the national performing arts center in Singapore. Since its opening in 2002, the center has held more than 41,000 performances and activities, attracting 28 million regular visitors and 98 million tourists. It covers 80,500 square meters. Esplanade has a roof sunshade consisting of 4590 pieces of glass, which is set according to the simulation calculation of sunshine environment in Singapore. Inspired by the compound eyes of insects, its team of architects created its unique appearance. Because the main body of the art center is like 2 durians when looking up at the building, it is also called "Big Durian". Artists from all over the world are invited to perform here regularly, so that the art and culture of the East and the West can collide with the most beautiful sparks here.

 

Esplanade aims to build a performing arts center for everyone, and its performance planning is guided by the mission of "entertaining, attracting, educating and inspiring the audience". There are about 3,500 art performances and activities in the center throughout the year, involving different cultures, languages and genres, including dance, music, drama and other different art forms. More than 70% of the performances and activities are free and open.

 

 

Main Venues of Esplanade

Concert Hall

Concert Hall is the core venue of Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay. With the impressive room acoustics effect, the sound effect is excellent and adjustable, and it is one of the top concert halls in the world to equip this acoustics. Its sound engineering design consultant is Russell Johnson of ART EC Consultants Inc of the United States. There is a reverberation room in the concert hall and an acoustic canopy that can adapt to various music types, providing perfect sound effects for each concert.    

 

The performance stage of the symphony orchestra in the Concert Hall can accommodate 120 musicians, up to 170 at most. As a sound reflector, the sound tent provides appropriate sound effect for each performance through proper adjustment. At the same time, the performing artists themselves can also hear the performance results. It is for this reason that the concert hall can adapt well to different kinds of performances. It is precisely because of this flexible performance production system and adjustable acoustic system that it provides high-level sound performance for various music forms.  

 

The reverberation room in the hall is used to change the sound characteristics of the performance. The reverberation room itself spans three floors and has an open space of 9500 cubic meters, which is the size of 4 Olympic swimming pools.

 

The Concert Hall

 

The Theatre

The horseshoe design of the traditional European opera house has been improved in style, so that artists in the performance can easily communicate with the audience in the Theatre. Not limited to Asian and Western performing arts, the performance stage can be compatible with all forms of performing arts. And it can carry all kinds of performance tasks from medium to large. Although the theater has more than 2000 seats, the distance between the farthest seats and the stage is only 40 meters. No matter where the audience sits, they can clearly see the performance on the stage. The design and construction process of the theater adopts the way of "boxes within boxes" to prevent external noise and vibration. 

 

Central Hall

The Central Hall is the main entrance of the Esplanade, and it is the main communicating place of the visitors at the same time. To enliven the atmosphere, visual art exhibitions are always held in the Central Hall. In the evening, a series of free indoor performances will also be presented here, including dance, music and drama. All talented artists, whether professional or not, can apply to show themselves here. In addition, there is also an information center that is convenient for tourists and provides support for people who first enter the Esplanade. At the same time, the hall directly connects the two main performance venues of the building, the Theater and the Concert Hall.

 

 

Recommended Guided Tours

To better know about the Esplanade, there are some guided tours provided. Maybe you can find something new about the Esplanade.

 

Esplanade Tour

There is a 1-hour Esplanade Tour from Sunday to Friday. The history and exhibitions will be introduced to you during the Esplanade Tour. At the same time, you will experience the excellent acoustics of Concert Hall. You can also learn how the voice adjust in the Concert Hall and how to prevent the external noise and vibration. These interesting knowledge of acoustics will be introduced to you. You will have the opportunity to visit every corner of the theaters, learn something basic about the sound system and get close to the largest pipe organ in Singapore. To know about the theaters in general is a nice experience. And you will also get some seats knowledge about performances or concerts.

 

 

Esplanade Garden Tour

There is a Garden Guided Tour for an hour. You can extremely experience the diverse ecosystem in the Forecourt Garden. Here you can learn about the plants, knowing more about them. You can also appreciate the art works in the Esplanade.

 

 

Esplanade Backstage Tour

We always watch the performances on the stages, without paying attention to the backstage efforts. The Backstage Tour will show you the preparing work and details backstage. Some off-limits areas can be visited at your tour. The visiting area includes Concert Hall, Theatre and Singtel Waterfront Theatre. It will be a cool experience to see the things behind the scenes and backstage area of Esplanade. Listen to the stories behind will be a special experience.

 

Esplanade Night Tour

The architecture and design of Esplanade will be introduced at the Esplanade Night Tour when you visit the Concert Hall and Theatre. You will experience the night view of the Esplanade during this tour. Dome, lights and the bay all consist of a perfect picture. Also, you will learn new technical information about the Esplanade exterior, Concert Hall and Theatre. Detailed explanation of the different venues in Esplanade will be obtained. And some interesting stories will be shared.

 

 

Beautiful Sunday Tour

At the Beautiful Sunday Tour, you can learn about the world-class acoustics of Esplanade and watch the largest pipe organ in Singapore. You can sit in the Concert Hall and enjoy the live concert.

 

 

 

How to get to Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

Subway: Take North-South Line or East-West Line and get off at City Hall Station.

Buses: Take bus 36, 56, 75, 70, 77, 97, 106, 111, 133, 162, 171, 174M, 195, 502, 700A, 857, 960, 961, NR1, NR2, NR5, NR6, NR7,NR8 or City Buzz TM C1, C2 and C3.