Grand Hotel Union Hall

Contact

Dvorana Grand Hotel Union

Miklošičeva 1, SI-1000 Ljubljana

https://www.union-hotels.eu

grand@union-hotels.eu

Phone386 (0) 1 308 1270

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Grand Hotel Union Hall is a conference, congress and banquet hall in the Grand Hotel Union, located in Ljubljana’s city centre. Union Hall, which has been organizing cultural, social and even political events in its Secession ambience since 1905, was completely renovated in 2002 in its original glamour. The tradition of events remains alive even today and the Union Hall is still considered an exceptional venue, especially for concerts of chamber music. Because of its beauty, the hotel’s management calls it “the gem of the Grand Hotel Union”.

History

The Grand Hotel Union was opened in 1905. At that time it was the first modern hotel in Ljubljana, and one of the biggest and finest hotels in Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. It was designed by architect Josip Vancaš (1859–1932), a connoisseur of the Viennese Secession architectural trends; the hotel itself is an exquisite example of the Secession or Art Nouveau style.

Its Union Hall is a large concert hall, one of the largest conference, congress and banquet venues not only in Ljubljana, but in the region, which still has the original Secession character. From the very beginning, the Union Hall regularly hosted elite Ljubljana’s cultural and congress events, including famed Black and White Masquerades between two World Wars, concerts of famous orchestras and conductors, including Czech Václav Talich (1883–1961), one of the first conductor of Slovene Philharmonic, or concerts of Slovenian Music Society Glasbena matica. Today it still retains its cultural mission.

Programme

Around 700 events are organised yearly in the Hotel Union, most of them in Union Hall. The main programme consists of concerts of chamber music, mainly in collaboration with Ljubljana Festival: for example, in 2017 they organised a concert of chamber orchestra I Solisti Aquilani, one of the most famed Italian orchestra with a special guest, American film actor John Malkovich, or the concert of opera arias of tenor Ramon Vargas and soprano Elvira Hasanagić, accompanied by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Facundo Agudin.

Union Hall also hosts Ljubljana Festival’s Winter Festival which also presents many world-famous musicians, for example, in 2017 the British Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, in 2018 Nigel Kennedy, one of the world-biggest violinist. Many other events are also taking place there, for example concerts in context of Slovene Music Days or International Music Festival Imago Slovenia, and gala events, such as International Press Institute World Congress in 2002 or European Festivals Association Summit in 2018.

Venue

Today, Union Hall can host up to 850 guests, but an extra space can be provided in additional 20 halls and rooms, in Grand Foyer, Garden Hall, White Hall or Glass Hall etc. Union Hall covers 504 square meters, together with additional halls and rooms 3.000 square meters. It is ideal for big cultural or social events, conferences or congresses, large gala receptions or dining events, but also for workshops or smaller seminars.

See also

• Festival Ljubljana

External links

• Grand Hotel Union Hall web page with the floor plan
• Josip Vancaš on Wikipedia
• Grand hotel Union in Wikipedia
• Article on the history of music in Slovenia, a chapter on music in Ljubljana