Active, curious and ready to drive from a distance of 100 kilometers – the management of the concert hall “Lielais dzintars” describes its listeners, whose concert halls have managed to “grow up as fans” during five years of operation.
Five years is not a long time – it was spent applying and “running”, Baiba Bartkeviča, the artistic director of “Big Amber”, noted in the Latvian Radio program “Kultūras Rondo”.
At the end of October, the five-year anniversary of “Big Amber” was planned to be different than it will be now, said Timur Thomson, the chairman of the board of the concert hall: “We had a very big celebration planned, we have partially moved to next year. per year. “
This year anniversary concert will be performed twice – on October 30 and 31. Baiba Bartkeviča said that an interesting concept has been created for it, in which it is planned to look back at the history of Liepāja music. The program is formed with the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, conductor Gintars Rinkevics, two vocal soloists – Margarita Vilson (soprano) and Artyom Safronov (tenor), as well as with violinist Daniel Lozakovich and pianist Agnese Egliņš.
Restrictions, attitudes of listeners and operation of the concert hall
For regional concert halls as municipal corporations, the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is particularly severe because, as Timur Thomson emphasized, they were not eligible for state aid and downtime benefits. The court, in July, by redistributing the resources of the State Cultural Capital Fund, additional funding was found EUR 400 000 to support the operation of regional concert halls and other institutions. Thomson explained: “Because we have a regional cultural program that is specifically designed for regional concert halls.
And under this program, with additional funding without changing any points in this program, we have been able to survive until now and I hope that by the end of the year. ”
Bartkeviča said that the previously planned program of the concert hall had to be changed until the end of the year. Most concerts have been postponed, and only a few have been canceled altogether. Bartkeviča explained: “Of course, I want to give it a chance, and its intentions were beautiful and great. We want to make it happen, so we look forward to many of this year’s plans for next year. ” The program for the concert hall is being developed over the years, and the artistic director revealed that next summer the program could have more foreign artists, however, more performances by Latvian artists are planned in the first half-year program.
Restrictions on gatherings have allowed us to “test” the full capacity of the hall, Thomson said, noting that the last concerts in the concert hall had been sold out. He noted, “Covid-19 sold out.” The Great Hall of the Concert Hall can currently accommodate up to 400 people, and in order not to lose the number of spectators, a choir balcony is used, from which people can watch concerts from the other side: .
Bartkeviča believes that the visitors are understanding and grateful that everything is still happening, albeit in limited numbers. She noted: “As we know, art events lift us. Even in such depressing, a little scary conditions.
The audience is very grateful, we ourselves are also very happy that there is an opportunity to continue the concert life, the art life. ”
There are several halls in the concert hall, but it is currently not possible to use all of them. “Well, I have to say that the Chamber Hall is not really able to function at this time, and we have also transferred the chamber music concerts to the Great Hall. It may reduce their sense of closeness, but we still can’t give up chamber music traditions, ”Thomson explained. There is also an Experimental Hall in the Concert Hall, where small-scale performances of the Liepāja Theater are currently taking place.
Rush time
The last five years of operation of the concert hall have been “a time of rushing and self-application”, Bartkeviča said. Looking back, the artistic director said: “It must be said that these years have been very rich. I think this time is a bit of self-declaration [laiks], Is not it so. But also not a long time. But now we have already marked ourselves. ”
“Lielais Dzintars” has also established cooperation with the University of Liepaja, its students and researchers to understand the target audience of the concert hall. When Thomson started work three years ago, it was important for him to find out what the locals thought. Thomson explained: “It was important for me to find out what those locals think about the concert hall then, and it was very important for us to get those numbers, purely sociologically, and by attracting the University of Liepaja, which did a great job, they gave us a vision. , what is our listener. ”
If the data is rounded, then the average listener in the concert hall is a 45-50-year-old woman who works either in a municipal or state institution, or who has her own business, who is actively interested in new things and is curious, Thomson revealed.
Bartkeviča also pointed out that the listener of “Lielā dzintara” is active and curious, as well as the concert series created by the concert hall. For example, the Chamber Hall series “Personally” was a stepping stone, because, as Bartkeviča explained, listening to chamber music was not so common in Latvia.
“This chamber hall series could be said to be one of the favorite series now. Such a personal meeting with musicians and artists also after the concert talks. I think that it has also brought up such an active listener – a fan who also comes to all the concerts, buys subscriptions, ”said Bartkeviča.
The research data on the target audience also showed that people who live within a radius of 100 kilometers around Liepāja go to concerts.
Thomson emphasized: “The regional concert halls were built with the idea that they serve not only one municipality, but also the region, so when we talked about allocating funding during this crisis, it was not just a municipal event. This concert hall really serves the region and, which may not have been heard by the state at all, but in total – it is a hundred kilometers. ”
How does a concert hall change the city?
Evaluating the impact of the concert hall on Liepāja as a whole during these five years, Thomson noted with a smile: “We have to say that we have a restaurant“ Cello ”, opposite one restaurant“ Piano ”, a new hotel on the corner called“ Maestro ”. That’s the most obvious way it works. “
He continued: “On Saturday there was a wonderful concert – the Symphony Orchestra played with Andrei Osokin – after which you can see that when you go out, you can see that part is moving to the hotel. I myself went to a restaurant where the owner approached me, said – please hold such concerts more often, before the concert is full of people, after the concert is full of people, that there is no place in the restaurant. And it is, of course, that we can warm the economy through cultural events, especially at this time. And tourism, local tourism, which is quite undermined in a way. But it is an opportunity.
If we are not defended, if we are closed, then unfortunately these organizations also have little money. ”
The state’s position towards regional concert halls is also being discussed among the management of concert halls, and the need for a law on regional concert halls has already been discussed before the Covid-19 pandemic. Thomson explained: “Because there is a law on cultural centers, which is being developed by the Ministry of Culture. We think about our law. This time of Covid-19, when we were pushed out, as we were not public authorities, then, I think, this issue became even more relevant. However, we have an internal feeling that we have national goals that these concert halls must also meet. These are very strategic objects. And if there is such a situation, do we really just stay with the municipality and the state has nothing to do with it anymore? ”
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