The grand opening featured Stanisław Skrowaczewski guest conducting Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and Johannes Brahms' Symphony No.

The expanded facility hosted several events during the 2002 Olympics Arts Festival including a concert with Audra McDonald and the Utah Symphony; the building also was decorated with an image of a biathlete during the games.

Cello and bass players are also encouraged to make holes in the stage with their endpins, so that their sound resonates with the wood of the hall, and not just their instrument.

The lobby itself is an architectural marvel due to its many tiers, the staircase that goes upwards and to the left along with the triangular shape of the enclosure, the gold leafing that covers all visible sides of the stairs and balconies, and the 30-foot-high (9.1 m) red blown-glass sculpture (The Olympic Tower, by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly) that is displayed prominently in the middle.

The Olympic Tower was valued at $900,000, although Chihuly was willing to sell it at the lower cost pursuant to an agreement that it would stay at Abravanel Hall and that the public would be able to view it without attending a show.