Experiencing more at the Melbourne Recital Centre

Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) is celebrating 15 years of ground-breaking performances with a range of new membership offers to get you “closer to the music and musicians you love.”

Since 2009, MRC has evolved from a largely classical music venue to an all-encompassing home for performances of any genre; classical, electronic, and everywhere in between.

Memberships range from as little as $5 per year for a Student Membership; $50 per year for a Music Lover Membership; $200 per year for a Premium Membership; and now, to celebrate their milestone birthday, a $15 yearly 3006 Locals Membership.

Melbourne Recital Centre visitor experience manager Jessie Upton told CBD News, the centre was a space intentionally designed to be one to “sit, pause and be immersed in what you are listening to, regardless of genre.”

“We might have started as a largely classical music venue, but we have shifted, changed and grown to welcome amazing artists and performances from a huge range of genres,” they said.

Our neighbours are very important to us. We want them to experience and enjoy the space, whether you are coming to a show, a tour or even just popping in during the day it’s a venue that is for them and we want to extend that welcome with this new offer.

“So many forms of music have different rituals associated with them or different ways of thinking about performance – because we have such a depth of programming, we can have two completely different genres performing at the same time but in different performance spaces and have everyone meeting and mingling in the foyer together, because they are all there to see live music –  that’s quite unique.”

According to Jessie, MRC’s diverse membership range was designed to be more accessible for people not just to enjoy their performances, but also to be more connected and get to know each other.

“Genres in music are not tied to age. You can be of any age and love any genre of music,” they said. “We see that in our audiences and have a very diverse age range across all of our programming.”

“What it means to be accessible for people is that it needs to be attainable, and we need to remove barriers whether that be with our affordable programming or the incredibly diverse range of genres we display.”

“We champion the artistry of the music and put that at the centre of everything we do.”

Along with all membership information, you can also find details on the return of the centre’s widely popular venue tours online. •