Lotte Hall, a classical music hall currently under construction in Jamsil-dong, southern Seoul, will open on Sept. 3, 2015, with a concert by maestro Chung Myung-whun and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the chief executive of the hall said Wednesday.

The opening will be followed by a four-month music festival, during which the hall will make some necessary adjustments in acoustics and other installations.

“From March onward, the hall will be made available to rent for concerts,” Kim Eui-joon said. The CEO, who previously headed LG Arts Center and the Korea National Opera, joined the venue last month. 

Costing 124 billion won ($120 million) to build, Lotte Hall will have a capacity of 2,018 seats and state-of-the-art sound facilities, including a 2.3 billion won built-in pipe organ. It will be the second-biggest classical concert hall in Seoul after Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall, which opened in 1988 with over 2,500 seats.

Local conglomerate Lotte is currently building an 11-story building for the hall near the much-debated 123-story second Lotte World, also under construction.

“Because it is in the middle of a huge shopping and entertainment complex, which is sure to attract a lot of visitors in the daytime, there will be a lot of opportunities for us in terms of matinee programs,” he said.

“Such programs would help make classical music more accessible to housewives, young students and children,” he added.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)