WELCOME TO MOGENS DAHL CONCERT HALL
20 YEARS WITH WORLDCLASS EVENTS
20
The buildings date back from 1901, so in the early 2000s they needed a thorough renovation before the dream of a concert hall could even be realized.
FROM THE OPERA TO HORSE STABLES AND A JAGUAR WORKSHOP Mogens Dahl is a conductor at heart, born and raised in the North of Denmark. He has taught at The Royal Academy in Aarhus and was an associate professor at the University of Aalborg aswell as the Choir Master and Conductor at the Jutland Opera. He arrived in Copenhagen in the early 2000s with a burning passion for starting his own concert hall in a city that offered new musical territories and completely different opportunities for the creative entrepreneur. Since 2005 he has run a concert hall in his own name. With his origin in the university environment, the place was originally called The Institute for Choir, Music & Conducting – but it soon changed to the more concise MOGENS DAHL CONCERT HALL. Whatever the name, what was once a horse stable, a Jaguar workshop, and car paint shop for Amar’kansk Auto is now an intimate, worldclass concert hall and conference venue with seating for 300 guests in two rooms. But it’s been a long road to get there. So settle in, because you’re about to hear a good story.
It was Holger Nielsen’s iconic waste bin, which eventually lured the young, ambitious conductor to Copenhagen.
VIPP’s founder, and Jette’s dad, Holger Nielsen
The making of a concert hall.
ON THE VIPP’ING POINT It is impossible to tell the story of MOGENS DAHL CONCERT HALL without also telling the story of VIPP. Mogens Dahl lives with Jette Egelund, who in 1994 took over VIPP from her father, Holger Nielsen. The Jutland design company quickly grew under her management and moved from Randers to Copenhagen in 2004. More specifically, to a backyard at Islands Brygge. The well-reputed Hertz Printing House had been located here since the beginning of the 20th century. But when the printer moved out, Jette Egelund and her popular waste bin moved into the premises. Mogens Dahl was still living in Aarhus at the time, where he was the choirmaster and conductor at The Danish National Opera in his 14th year, under the legendary conductor Francesco Cristofolis. But Jette Egelund soon lured him to Copenhagen.
“One day we stood in a window on the second floor of what had become VIPP’s head quarter, looking over at the rather shabby backyard buildings that had come with the purchase. At the time, there was a vintage Jaguar workshop here and the car paint shop Amar’kansk Auto, run by two Lebanese brothers. Jette suggested that we make a concert hall in the old dusty buildings. At the time, it was hard to imagine that the buildings would become a place where some of the world’s most re-knowned chamber music artists have played,” says Mogens Dahl.
Back in Aarhus, Mogens Dahl sold his house in Marselisborg and moved in with Jette in Copenhagen. Now with both the means, the opportunities and the visions to create his very own concert hall in a somewhat culturally depleted area of the capital (before DR Koncerthuset had been built) - and with a good deal of awe at now taking on Copenhagen’s music scene.
BLINDFOLDED AND FULL SPEED FORWARD In January 2006, the concert hall was completed after a careful renovation and reconstruction by the architects Maali & Lalanda. Until then, Mogens Dahl had held rehearsals with his chamber choir up in the attic of VIPP’s domicile. But now the conductor finally stood on his own two feet and started planning a program consisting of both chamber concerts, talks and singing evenings. In the meantime, Jette Egelund was becoming well established in the Copenhagen business community. One day Nordea Banking asked her to give a talk on how a pedal bin from Randers could become such a design icon. Jette Egelund was happy to do so - on the condition that the talk took place in the MOGENS DAHL CONCERT HALL.
“Then we got really busy. We had no experience in hosting this type of event, so we had to rent chairs and scrub the toilets a little extra. I remember we bought meatballs and potato salad so we had something to serve the posh bankers. And it went better than expected, as I recall – but oh, how much we’ve learned since then”, says Mogens Dahl.
ART IS NOT BORROWED FEATHERS When Mogens Dahl started his concert hall, there was a conviction in his creative circle that “the business world could not fully embrace art, and would rather adorn itself with its stories of capitalist integrity”...and it was certainly not in the stars that the conductor from the Jutland Opera should develop into a business man alongside his musical career. Although he had learned to master both administration and economics over the years thanks to his enterprising partner, Mogens Dahl was not used to associating with the top brass of the business world.
“I certainly had my prejudices to begin with, but I experienced great curiosity and great cultural integrity in the companies that found it appealing to have their meetings and conferences in a concert hall. I still think that field of tension is incredibly exciting to explore.” In the meantime, he had allied himself with a couple of former students from Aalborg University, including Søren Græsborg, who helped getting it all on track.
HAD WE HAD A STRATEGY, WE WOULD HAVE STOPPED A LONG TIME AGO ”We were two humanists who tried to get a business up and running, and we had no idea what we were doing at first. We oversold our premises every now and then, so we had to put up tents in the court yard to make room for everyone. We piled the projector on books and music note sheets. We held conferences in a room where there could be a stiff breeze and water dripping from the ceiling because a water pipe had broken. Nothing we did was possible. But we did it anyway,” says Producer & Conference Manager Søren Græsborg about the early days. If customers worriedly asked how to cross the courtyard without getting wet on a rainy day, the message was simply that they had to walk a little faster across the yard. ”It’s a part of the charm.” And while everything was a bit all over the place in the beginning, Mogens Dahl always made sure to play beautiful melodies on his Steinway grand piano ’to cover everything up’ and spread a good atmosphere. And it worked. Over time, they became better at handling the guests, the premises were equipped with modern facilities, and the meetings and conferences became quite a good business. And Mogens Dahl also managed to buy chairs, AV equipment and fix the holes in the roof.
It required both a good imagination and a strong vision to see the potential for the old industrial site at Islands Brygge.
“We didn’t have a real strategy, but grew organically over time and went after the type of business that made sense to us. We’ve stumbled, fallen, gotten back up…many times… and then we’ve learned a bit along the way. Had we had a strategy from the start, we would have stopped a long time ago. But with mutual help and entrepreneurial spirit, we’ve been able to get through most of it because we basically have had some good values and used our common sense,” says Søren Græsborg.
A PRISM OF ART AND BUSINESS Mogens Dahl has always refrained from applying for public funds for the operation of the Concert Hall, because as he says, “then you lose the essential thing, namely being the master of your own house”, and the company must be able to carry itself. He has been doing so for the past 20 years through thick and thin.
Recently, the buildings at the back of the courtyard were also carefully renovated, so that the entire site now appears as an aesthetic architectural whole with charming details from the past, ready for the future. So how is the artist and creative entrepreneur’s relationship with the business world today?
”I’m much wiser these days. I have met so many exciting business people over the years who have been curious about understanding art, whether it is music or the works of art that have been created for the Concert Hall. We have a prism that turns and creates both art and business, acts as both stock exchange and cathedral, hosting concerts and conferences. Art always gives you an experience, whether you understand it or not”, says Mogens Dahl.
“We invite you to leave the ordinary, achieve the special and create the exceptional.” Mogens Dahl Director & CCO
ELEGANCE AND AESTHETICS FROM THE TOP SHELF Today, the place is still run on a solid gut feeling and a strong principle of conducting business within the means available. MOGENS DAHL CONCERT HALL has grown steadily over the years and is now a recognized conference venue for companies that want discreet, elegant and aesthetic settings for their meetings, conferences and events. With both worldclass classical concerts and exclusive business events under one roof, the small concert hall at Islands Brygge has developed into a exclusive venue for both artists and corporate directors.
”We have been part of the established meeting and conference industry for several years now and work much more strategically, structured and digitally today. We have permanent partnerships with several of our good customers and event agencies and experience that companies return again and again to hold their conferences, parties and other events with us.
At the same time, we experience that we are a highly sought-after venue in Copenhagen, where weddings and other private functions are held to the great pleasure of both our guests and us. We continue to navigate by our common sense, good values and high quality, as we did back when I was just Mogens from the North, having to learn everything from scratch”, says Mogens Dahl. “And we definitely expect to take on another 20 years.”
Mogens Dahl Concert Hall Snorresgade 22 DK 2300 København +45 7023 0082 info@mogensdahl.dk www.mogensdahl.dk