The Music Centre of Christchurch is a facility for music organisations in the central city

Christchurch Central City

Christchurch Central City is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the four avenues and thus includes the densely built up central city, some less dense surrounding areas of residential, educational and industrial usage, and green...

 of Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It was established in 1994 and provides office, rehearsal, tuition and performance space for a wide range of music groups. The centre is adjacent to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament

Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch

The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, located in the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand, commonly known as the Christchurch Basilica, is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch and seat of the Bishop of Christchurch...

 and now consists of a group of four heritage buildings formerly the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions and Sacred Heart College

Catholic Cathedral College, Christchurch

Catholic Cathedral College, Christchurch is an integrated Catholic co-educational secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1987 but its origins go back to more than a 100 years earlier...

, a Catholic secondary school for girls founded in 1881 which was amalgamated with Xavier College, a neighbouring Catholic boys' school to form Catholic Cathedral College in 1987.

The chapel, built in 1907, by Joseph Munnings, Samuel Hurst Seager and Cecil Woods, is the primary performance space. It is the only example of Byzantine revival architecture in the Southern Hemisphere. The three-storey main convent building, designed in 1882 by Francis Petre

Francis Petre

Francis William "Frank" Petre was a prominent New Zealand-born architect based in Dunedin. He was an able exponent of the Gothic revival style, one of its best practitioners in New Zealand. He followed the Roman Church's initiative to build Catholic places of worship in Anglo-Saxon countries in...

 is the oldest building in the complex. It was opened in 1894. The Portery was added in 1902 to extend the convent. It was restored with the girls’ boarding hostel for Sacred Heart College, constructed in 1930. Both buildings became part of the music centre in 2004

The buildings were badly damaged in the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.