In the city of Liepāja, the dream of a grand concert hall of its own has been alive for almost a century. Already at the end of the 19th century, in 1896, the City Council made a decision to start saving money for the construction of its concert hall. In 2015, this dream has finally been realized – the „Great Amber” has been built to become a regional centre of culture and events, as well as home to the Liepāja Symphony orchestra, Emils Melngailis Liepaja Music Secondary School and to the concert hall’s manager and creator of the programme - „Lielais Dzintars”, Ltd.
"Previous music school has its own atmosphere, but our school in new concert hall is cooler. In the concert hall there is a touch of the world, being here, I feel that I can achieve something big, go further, "said Sintija Miller, 1st year student of the trombone specialty.
The concert hall „Great Amber” comprises eight stories of 14’126 m². It has three concert halls – the Great Hall with 1010 seats, the Chamber Hall with 200 seats and the Experimental Stage with 150 seats, in addition to public events spaces Civita Nova, a coffee shop and a restaurant. At the basis of the architectural concept of the concert hall, created by the excellent Austrian architect Prof. Volker Giencke, lies amber – the symbol of Liepāja and the Baltic Sea, as well as the concert hall’s function as a cultural and arts centre. Thus, its architecture is a portrait of music, frozen in time and in amber.
"In truth, I think that here is one of the best acoustics in Europe. This is a wonderful concert hall, and I am immensely pleased that its creators have succeeded in achieving outstanding acoustics. We were really honored to play, try and create concert record here. We definitely want to return to the wonderful Amber!," expressed the famous Estonian conductors dynasty offspring, the artistic director of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic Kristjan Jervi.
Its acoustics have been created by world leaders in their fields – Prof. Karlheinz Müller of Müller BBM, Germany, and Prof. Christian Bartenbach of Bartenbach, Germany, respectively. The city of Liepāja is like a lagoon, located between the Baltic Sea and the Liepāja lake. It is the third largest city in Latvia and its capital of music. Seems only natural that it now also has its own „Great Amber” concert hall.
The shape, unique interior and excellent acoustics of „Great Amber” permit to say that a visit to this centre of the culture of the Baltic Sea region will surely become an unforgettable experience!
"This is a great concert hall. It is also an outstanding sign of contribution to culture, contribution to the future. You can have the greatest concert hall, but I always believe that everything has deeper significance - its message is that Latvia, Liepaja invests in the future, invests in culture and also in children and young people in order to develop. It makes it more special," expressed British conductor Karel Mark Chichon.
The architectural idea of the concert hall „Great Amber” was created in 2003, when the concept of Prof. Volker Giencke won at the worldwide competition initiated by Imants Resnis, at the time – head of the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, and organized by the Liepāja City Council and the Latvian Association of Architects.
A truly international team of Austrian, German and Latvian experts and an overall of 24 offices has worked on the project of the concert hall under the supervision of uzņēmuma „Volker Giencke & Company”.
"Since the opening of the concert hall, we are very impressed with the development of Liepaja in the field of cultural tourism, and this is reflected also in the growth of our hotel's clients and the load on the season especially during the winter season. When bigger concerts or conferences are held in the Great Amber, there is also a noticeable increase in both our restaurant and the hotel," said Inese Židele, CEO of Promenade Hotel.
PROJECT HISTORY
2003 – worldwide competition of architectural concepts
2004 – adaptation project
2006 – design project
2008 – 2011 – technical project
1 August 2013 – the contract on construction and author’s supervision signed
4 October 2013 – beginning of construction
30 August 2014 – ridgepole celebrations, the constructino of „Great Amber“ reaches its highest peak – 30 metres.
12 August 2015 – the building is commissioned
CREATORS OF THE PROJECT
Building structure – Johann Birner (Zivilingenieur für Bauwesen, Austria)
Stage technologies – Buhnenplannung Walter Kottke Ingenieure GmbH (Germany)
Light technologies – Bartenbach Lichtlabor GmbH (Austria)
Acoustics - Prof. Karlheinz Müller, Müller BBM (Germany)
CONSTRUCTION
Built by Merks, Ltd. (Latvia)
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
ERDF support – 12 772 220 EUR
National and local government support – 20 736 491 EUR
