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The grand opening of the “Great Amber” took place on November 6 and 7 and was attended by the President of Latvia Raimonds Vejonis and other prominent guests. Hosts of the new building – Liepaja Symphony Orchestra – joined forces with such renowned musicians as Latvian bass-baritone Egils Silins, soprano Elisabet Strid from Sweden, mezzo-soprano Jovita Vaskeviciute from Lithuania and tenor Mati Turi from Estonia.          

The program of the opening concert featured the premiere of “Music for symphony orchestra” by Latvian composer Agris Engelmanis, as well as performances of "The Fourth Liepaja Concert for clarinet and orchestra" by the world-renowned Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds and “The Ninth Symphony” by Ludwig van Beethoven. The emotional opening concert was received with almost five minute long standing ovation.

The chamber hall of the "Great Amber" was opened in the middle of October with a performance of Berlin Philharmonic String Quintet.

The inauguration concert series for the “Great Amber” were concluded by the performance of Latvian opera singer Marina Rebeka joined by the tenor Rame Lahaj and the “Great Amber” festival orchestra conducted by the young and promising Italian conductor Speranza Scappucci.

“I really, really wanted this concert and was looking forward to it, and it was something quite special! The hall is amazing, I felt really, really good at the “Great Amber”. It is possible to change the acoustics with the acoustic curtains, and we achieved a very good result. This concert was a great gift to me,” exclaims the world-renowned singer Marina Rebeka.

The acoustics where created by the leading professionals in the field – prof. Karlheinz Müller and prof. Christian Bartenbach (Müller-BBM, Germany), some of the world’s leading specialists in the field, responsible for the acoustical solutions in theatres and concert halls in New York, Beijing, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Salzburg, Venice, Rome and other capitals of music and culture.

The acoustic excellence of the new concert hall has been acknowledged by Latvian specialists and their foreign colleagues.

“The acoustics of the “Great Amber” are unprecedented. They are excellent and let musicians work at the world class level but at the same time require a refined performance. Every musician has to play as for a recording – everybody hears everything, so the responsibility is tremendous,” explains Uldis Lipskis, the director of Liepaja Symphony Orchestra – the oldest orchestra in the Baltic States.

“I feel that the hall is wonderful, my heart sings with joy! I think that at the moment this will be the best acoustic concert hall in Latvia,” exclaimed conductor Māris Sirmais, artistic director of the State Choir Latvija  He thinks “this vertical space is very important, the hight of the concert hall. Already at the beginning, when orchestra just started to play, I was mesmerized by the radiance of the sound. One could hear every group of the orchestra, every instrument. Even if one musician was out of ensemble”. Māris Sirmais also points out, that such acoustics are very demanding for performers. “I think that the “Great Amber” will become the symbol of Liepaja and will attract musicians not only from Latvia, but from around the world and eventually will become an important acoustic music centre for entire Europe.”

“We want to play here,” says the head conductor of Latvian National Symphony Orchestra Andris Poga. “Already when entering, looking at the stage, feeling the atmosphere, there is less and less enthusiasm about returning to our everyday working space in Riga, the Great Guild Hall.”

“Concert hall the “Great Amber” is lovely and bright and reminds me a little of Luzern concert hall, but the acoustics are similar to Berlin concert hall. This concert space will undoubtedly sparkle new creative energies for many composers, who will be inspired by the excellent acoustics and will create new music especially for this space,” says composer and musical director of Daile Theatre Juris Vaivods.

The architectural design of the concert hall was created by Austrian architect Volker Giencke. The reference of the architectural concept for the concert hall was amber.

The eight story building measures more that 14 000 square meters and houses three concert spaces: the great hall with 1010 seats, chamber hall with 200 seats and experimental stage with 150 seats. The great hall can be transformed with the help of acoustic shield and curtains and stage wings, creating suitable space for theatre, ballet and dance performances.