Auditori del Conservatori del Liceu

Auditori del Conservatori del Liceu is a 400-seat hall in Barcelona, housed in the Conservatori Liceu’s Nou de la Rambla campus, inaugurated in 2009. Its distinguishing feature is a working conservatory setting: jazz, chamber, orchestral and small-scale opera programs use the same purpose-built room that serves student ensembles, festival bills and visiting musicians. A 13-by-8-metre stage and removable front rows allow an orchestra or opera configuration.

A conservatory’s public stage

The institution behind the hall began in 1837, when people linked to Barcelona’s National Militia met under commander Manuel Gibert i Sans and set in motion the Liceo Filodramático de Montesión. Its mission joined dramatic and musical training; the Liceu’s classes opened ceremonially at Barcelona City Hall on April 27, 1838. Queen Sofía inaugurated the present Conservatori Liceu on November 3, 2009, bringing the auditorium into service alongside dedicated orchestra and chamber rooms. One sharp picture of the room’s concert life came on November 29, 2016, when Catalunya Música recorded pianist Ivan “Melón” Lewis with the Liceu Big Band, directed by Sergi Vergés, during the 48th Voll-Damm Barcelona International Jazz Festival.

The room today

This is a seated, formal listening room, with 400 upholstered seats; 40 front-row chairs can be removed for an opera orchestra. Concert and theatrical lighting, professional audio, digital multitrack recording, a large projection screen, and concert grand pianos support polished amplified and acoustic sets. Programming combines the Conservatori’s Liceu Jazz, Cambra, Jove and Familiar cycles with Barcelona Jazz Festival concerts and outside promoters. The venue also makes the room available to organisations and companies, so bills range across jazz, modern music, chamber concerts and small-format opera.