President Kersti Kaljulaid and Professor Ivari Ilja, rector of the EAMT, cut the ribbon on the stage of the concert hall and declared the new building open.

The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The new center includes a concert hall which can seat 482 people, a black box theater with 130 seats for actors and jazz musicians, and 21 new classrooms. The building cost approximately €12 million and took one and a half years to construct. 

Kaljulaid said that the self-identification of Estonian people has always incorporated a desire to build bridges between freedom and creative self-expression.

"Today, too, music and theater mean much more for our nation than merely fine arts. This is illustrated by the abundance of concerts, festivals and premiering plays as well as the astonishing demand for theater and concert tickets," she said. "This is a natural part of our mentality and nervous system, which is largely based on the foundation this academy has traditionally been building and will keep building,"

Professor Ivari Ilja, rector of the EAMT, says the new concert and performance center is the best possible birthday present the academy could have received for its 100th anniversary. "Now our students will be able to have a taste of their future lives as creators and practice on big stages here already during their studies," Professor Ilja said.

The center was designed by AS Resand. The architects were Toivo Tammik and Mart Rõuk from the architectural firm Ansambel and Kalvi Voolaid.

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