In 1957, the Zagreb Municipal Assembly, led by Mayor Većeslav Holjevac, decided to build a concert hall. Plans submitted by a group of architects – Marijan Haberle, Minka Jurković and Tanja Zdvořak – were accepted.

Construction of the Lisinski Hall began in 1961. Besides the architects and contractors, credit also goes to representatives of the city of Zagreb: Mayor Holjevac, President of the National Committee of the city of Zagreba, Ivo Vrhovac, President of the Zagreb Municipal Assembly; Stipe Milanović, President of the Committee for the Construction of the Hall; Ivo Vuljević, the first Director of the Hall and many other distinguished figures in the cultural and public life. The hall is named after Vatroslav Lisinski, the composer of the first Croatian opera, Love and Malice.