Disused space that's become a popular and eclectic venue

The Howard Assembly Room is celebrating two years of being reopened to the public, thanks to Opera North. When the Leeds-based, internationally-renowned company took over the space at the top of Leeds Grand Theatre, it was yet another colourful chapter for a venue that had variously been a music hall, a bingo hall and an adult cinema.

When Opera North and Leeds Grand were granted more than 30m to refurbish the theatre and build a new home for the opera company, part of the deal was that the Howard Assembly Room would be brought back to life.

Given that, in the first two years of the venue being re-opened, 30,000 people have passed through the doors, it's fair to say that they have stayed true to the promise.

"When we first opened, myself and Richard (Ashton, the venue's general manager) would literally be walking up and down the street outside the theatre, spotting people with tickets in their hands who were trying to find the venue," says artistic director Dominic Gray. "We don't have to do that any more."

Gray is right. The venue took a little while to find an audience, but now that it has, it is an audience that is fiercely loyal and enjoys the eclectic programming Gray has brought to the Assembly Room.

Over the past two years more than 140 ticketed events have entertained audiences, in addition to its role as the rehearsal space for the Orchestra of Opera North.

Attracting big names such as jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, writer and director Mike Leigh, folk stars The Unthanks and world music performers Bassekou Kouyate, the venue feeds the thriving Yorkshire cultural scene with a varied programme of events, gigs, films, talks and opera for young people.

One quarter of those events have been free to the public, including Twilight performances, access to live rehearsals and a number of children's events, including puppet and singing workshops. The latest to be added to the list of free events is artist Mariele Neudecker's immersive installation, Kindertotenlieder, which takes over the venue until February 23.

German artist Neudecker, who was on the shortlist to provide a sculpture for Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth, worked in the Assembly Room last year and was delighted to be asked to come back with the installation, whose title translates literally as Songs on the Death of Children, and draws on Gustav Mahler's song cycle of the same name.

Visitors to Nedudecker's installation walk through five specially created rooms, three life-sized and two in miniature. An acclaimed archive recording of Mahler's work by contralto Kathleen Ferrier underpins the exhibition. Neudecker has mounted the installation previously in York and around the world, but this is the first time the full five rooms have been displayed together in this way.

"It is a very moving subject, but the films that sit alongside the music are not morbid or depressing, even though it is music Mahler wrote on the death of children," says Neudecker. "People do find it quite an emotional experience, but hopefully that is not a negative thing."

A series of events is being held alongside the exhibition. For details, log on to www.operanorth.co.uk/howard-assembly-room.