During the presentation of the New Door of the Palau, Joan Oller also recalled that on Sunday, September 20, at 6:30 p.m., there will be a special concert in the concert hall of the Palau de la Música. "It will be a benefit concert for those affected by the Venezuela earthquakes, responding to the call made by Gustavo Dudamel, a good friend of the house," explains Oller. The proceeds from the tickets will be entirely donated to the United Nations campaign promoted by Dudamel to support Venezuela's recovery after the earthquakes of June 2026. In the concert, the Orfeó Català, conducted by Xavier Puig, the soprano Mireia Tarragó, the baritone Ferran Albrich, and the pianists Pau Casan and Paul Perera will perform Brahms's A German Requiem, in the version for piano four hands.
The Palau de la Música will have a door on Via Laietana
It will enable a 354 square meter premises as a shop and exhibition and public service space
BarcelonaThe two ground floors at number 54 Via Laietana in Barcelona were a bank office and a clothing store, but the most peculiar use of one was as an occupied afterparty. During the pandemic lockdown, the occupants often brought chairs outside to spend time in the sun. Later, the premises were left closed, waiting for someone to love them. The location is privileged, on the corner with Ramon Mas street and in front of the Urquinaona metro entrance (L4), a traffic-free zone after the urban planning reform of Via Laietana and Jonqueres street. And now these 354 m² have been rented by the Palau de la Música, which will open the Nova Porta del Palau there in the autumn, as Joaquim Uriach explained to ARA, president of the Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música Catalana Foundation. For now, the space is in the final phase of construction, and the forecast is that the inauguration will be in September or October.
The space will host the public service center, a shop managed by the Laie bookstore, an exhibition space, and another with immersive sound. The renovation has cost 1.5 million euros, and the lease is for twenty years, an agreement that foresees a horizon of durability similar to what the Palau de la Música Catalana already has with the Espai Palau on Ortigosa street and which hosts the rehearsal center of the Orfeó Català and the Palau Chamber Choir, and the headquarters of the Orfeó Català Choir School and the Palau Vincles choirs.
"The Nova Porta del Palau project responds to the need to grow, to get closer to citizens, to improve public access, and to improve the environment, to bring more culture to the neighborhood," says Uriach. "It's about connecting the historic building with Via Laietana, creating a new corridor to the Palau's terrace," adds Judith Pi, deputy director general of the Palau de la Música. The corridor effect is evident. The space, which unifies the two premises, has two entrances: one from Via Laietana and the other from the street of the Palau de la Música. One of the advantages of the Nova Porta del Palau is that it unifies several services that until now were dispersed and little visible in the historic building, such as the ticket office and the shop. Sometimes public service was confusing. "There are people who ask for information from the staff at the cafeteria bar," reports Joan Oller, general director of the Palau de la Música.
Although in-person ticket sales are declining and represent just over 35% of the total, Oller considers it a priority to strengthen "personalized attention," aimed at both "the local public and visitors from outside." All this, in line with the purposes of Barcelona Turisme. "In Barcelona, we don't want more tourism, but a certain type of tourism, and the Palau de la Música can contribute to this," says Oller.
The Nova Porta del Palau is conceived as a tour that introduces the visitor to the uniqueness of the Palau de la Música, with audiovisual resources and elements connected to the architecture of Domènech i Montaner and the history of the Orfeó Català. The shop and ticket offices will be integrated into the exhibition narrative, which also includes a space with immersive sound designed by Tiler Gab, with "a sound experience featuring the voices of the Orfeó Català" that will be added to the current guided tours of the building. "We want to communicate the story and attract more audiences," assures Oller. 953,049 people visited the Palau de la Música in 2025, 93,000 more than in 2024, and the aim is to reach one million in 2026. Last year, the 678 concerts programmed had 555,750 spectators; the modernist building received 358,519 visitors, and 38,780 people attended various own and private events and happenings. "We have room to grow," states Uriach.