What to Expect at a Concert

Whether in the Westmorland Hall of Kendal Leisure Centre or Kendal Parish Church, you can expect a friendly welcome at our concerts and plenty of opportunities to enjoy great orchestral music in good company.

Our ticket prices are set to cover your whole evening:

• Online booking fees are included in the price (although we have to make a charge for telephone bookings).
• Car parking is included for concerts at Kendal Leisure Centre.
• A printed programme is available on the night, although we would appreciate an optional donation of £1.
• There is usually a pre-concert ‘In Conversation’, an informal interview with the soloist, conductor or both ahead of the evening’s programme – this is included in your ticket too.

We appreciate your investment in classical music concert tickets and aim to make the whole experience as memorable and enjoyable as possible.

The Westmorland Hall, Kendal Leisure Centre

The Westmorland Hall at Kendal Leisure Centre is a large space with raised staging and seating for 715 people. The full address is Burton Road, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 7HX and the telephone number for the Leisure Centre is 01539 729777.

There are three entrances to the auditorium and Lakeland Sinfonia volunteers in the foyer will be happy to direct you to your numbered seats. Toilet facilities are both upstairs and near the entrance foyer.

You can find out more about the venue including advice on access on the Our Venues page.

Kendal Parish Church

Holy Trinity Kendal Parish Church is on Kirkland, near Abbott Hall Art Gallery and there are several public car parks in the vicinity. The full address is Kendal Parish Church, Kirkland, Kendal, LA9 5AF and the church office telephone number is 01539 721248.

There is one main entrance and all the seating is on the floor level. Many of the seats with the best views are in the central aisle; repeater TV screens are located in front of the side aisles. Tickets for concerts in the Church are not numbered and seating is on a first come, first served basis. Lakeland Sinfonia volunteers will be happy to help you to find seats for you.

Kendal Town Hall

Kendal Town Hall is on Highgate, in the centre of Kendal and there are several public car parks in the vicinity. There are a limited number of disabled parking bays available to blue badge users on Stricklandgate/Highgate close to the Town Hall. The full address is Kendal Town Hall, Highgate, Kendal, LA9 4DL.

There is one main entrance with stair and lift access to the first floor and the stalls seats are in the Assembly Room at this first floor level. Balcony seating is on the second floor with stairs access only (No lift access to the Balcony). Toilets are located on the first floor

Tickets for concerts in the Town Hall are not numbered and seating is on a first come, first served basis. Lakeland Sinfonia volunteers will be happy to help you to find seats for you.

You can find out more about the venue including advice on access on the Our Venues page.

So you’ve arrived at the concert venue, maybe parked your car, been given a programme in the foyer and you’ve found your seats.

What can you expect from the rest of your evening?

• Some of your neighbours may well be regular concert goers – it’s worth saying Hello as they may be more familiar with the proceedings. Part of the joy of Lakeland Sinfonia is that there are so many regular audience members who enjoy the social side of gathering for a concert.
• There is usually a pre-concert ‘In Conversation’ talk , at which the soloist and/or conductor answer questions about the music and how they perform it. These are at 2pm for 3pm matinee concerts and 6:30pm for 7:30pm concerts. You can sit anywhere for this talk. If you arrive after it has started it is polite to sit down quickly and quietly in the first available seat.
• The orchestra will gradually take their seats, check their tuning and generally prepare for the concert about five minutes before the concert starts. The leader of the orchestra (first violin) will be part of this.
• Applause at Lakeland Sinfonia concerts usually (but not always) follows a format – there is applause as the conductor takes to the stage, applause for the soloist when they join the orchestra, and applause at the conclusion of each piece in the programme. The audience remains quiet after each movement within a piece until the last one. That silence can seem strange but it’s traditional and the orchestra doesn’t expect applause at that point.
• Not everyone will be on stage for the whole concert. The soloist normally will only be seen for their own performance, usually the concerto, and some members of the orchestra may only be on stage for a particular piece. For instance, a harp or some percussion may only be needed in one piece of music.
• The interval will be about 20 minutes. For concerts in the Westmorland Hall, there is time to queue for an ice cream in the auditorium, head to the bar (upstairs) or head out to the coffee stand for a hot drink.
• Again for the Westmorland Hall, at the very end, after the applause and any exit encore, the side doors to the car park are opened as an additional exit.

We are keen to attract new audience members to our concerts so please, if anything seems at all strange or you have feedback that might help other people on their first visit, we’d love to know. You can use the form on our Contact page.