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London · Venue

St John's Smith Square (Sinfonia Smith Square)

A poised, small-scale Westminster concert hall inside an 18th-century Baroque church.

Upcoming shows
69
Address
Smith Square, SW1P 3HA London
Phone
020 7222 1061
Next show
Fri, 9 Oct 2026
Official siteDirections
St John's Smith Square (Sinfonia Smith Square) in London

About St John's Smith Square (Sinfonia Smith Square)

St John’s Smith Square, now Smith Square Hall under Sinfonia Smith Square, is a 440-seat Westminster concert venue in a Grade I-listed English Baroque church. Thomas Archer’s four corner towers and monumental stone exterior make the setting unusually ceremonial for a chamber recital or jazz set. The standard layout places 324 listeners on the floor and 116 in the gallery, creating a close-scale room for orchestras, vocal ensembles and soloists.

A church reborn for concerts

Designed by Thomas Archer and built between 1713 and 1728 as the parish Church of St John the Evangelist, the building came from the Fifty Churches Act, Parliament’s response to London’s growing population. A direct bomb hit on 10 May 1941 gutted the church during the Blitz; its shell remained a ruin for two decades, while car-park conversion entered discussion. Lady Parker of Waddington formed the Friends of St John’s in 1962 to fund a restoration to Archer’s design, and Marshall Sisson led work from 1965 to 1968. On 6 October 1969, Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge gave the opening recital, establishing the restored church as a concert hall. A 2021 merger with Southbank Sinfonia led to the Sinfonia Smith Square identity in 2024.

The room and the programme

Classical music sits at the centre of the house programme, joined by lunchtime recitals, Baroque festivals, late-night jazz and family events. The hall also offers its spaces for hire, so the calendar mixes Sinfonia Smith Square activity with visiting presenters. Most seats occupy the main floor, with the gallery above, and the Footstool Café & Bar serves the building. A restoration project is working toward closure in late 2027 and reopening in summer 2029, giving the current concert run a clear horizon.

Sources

  1. St. John’s Smith Square, Non Civil Parish – 1236250 — Historic England
  2. History — Sinfonia Smith Square
  3. Hire Our 18th Century Home — Sinfonia Smith Square
  4. About Us — Sinfonia Smith Square
  5. Doors Open FAQs — Sinfonia Smith Square

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