Sala Cecília Meireles is a venue designed to promote concert music. Opened on December 1st, 1965, the same year as the fifth centennial of the city of Rio de Janeiro, it is one of the country’s most traditional concert halls. The space’s excellent acoustics are internationally renowned, allowing for various types of shows ranging from popular folk expressions to the most erudite performances, medieval music to contemporary tunes, symphonic orchestras to choirs, and specializing in solo recitals and chamber music ensembles. 

Over its 53 years of existence, Sala Cecília Meireles has been the scene of several memorable concerts featuring some of the biggest names of modern music, and continues to be a mainstay of classical music in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

The Grande Hotel da Lapa building, currently the home of Sala Cecília Meireles, was erected at the end of the 19th century and in 1939 was renovated into the Cine Colonial, a cinema specializing in Western films. At the beginning of the 1960’s, Carlos Lacerda, then governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro began a restoration project that would turn the cinema into a concert hall suited for musical artists, audiences and critics who noted a lack of a venue designated for solo recitals, chamber music and small orchestral arrangements. Currently, Sala Cecília Meireles hosts around 100 concerts during its season through the Sala Cecília Meireles Association.