Ulrike Klein’s new Ngeringa Cultural Centre has been specifically designed for the performance of chamber music.

An innovatively designed, state of the art concert venue will open in the Adelaide Hills on Saturday. The new Ngeringa Cultural Centre is the brainchild of prominent arts philanthropist and former cosmetics entrepreneur Ulrike Klein. Construction of the 200-seat concert venue has fulfilled Klein’s long-held dream of building a facility designed specifically for chamber music performance.

The new environmentally sustainable building has been designed by leading architect Anton Johnson in collaboration with Arup, which has an international reputation for excellence in acoustical engineering. The concert hall has a distinctive ‘wave diffusion’ ceiling to ensure sound is flatteringly reflected within the space to provide the best possible listening experience for the audience.

Oringally from Germany, Klein and her husband moved with their four children to the Adelaide Hills in 1983. The pair founded the international Jurlique skin care label in 1985 and in 2002 the company was first sold to Kerry Packer, and then sold again in 2011 to a Japanese company for $335 million. She and her family have been a long-term supporter of the arts. In addition to being the founder and director of the Ngeringa Arts Foundation Klein also contributed $2 million towards the purchase of a set of rare Guadagnini string instruments, currently on loan to the Adelaide-based Australian String Quartet.

The Ngeringa Cultural Centre will be officially opened on Saturday, August 29, and host its first concert the following night. The inaugural concert feature the world premiere of a string quartet from leading Australian composer Matthew Hindson performed by the ASQ, as well as performances by celebrated Australian harpist and Music Programmer of the Melbourne Arts Centre, Marshall McGuire and two young recipients of the Klein Family Foundation Scholarship at the Australian National Academy of Music, Yuhki Mayne and Harry Bennetts. 

Full details of the Ngeringa Cultural Centre programme can be found on its website.