Author: Andrea Kerner

The East Tyrolean Musicbanda Franui and the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks immerse themselves in the musical cosmos of Gustav Mahler and illuminate his seemingly kaleidoscopic oeuvre from different perspectives. While the ten musicians of Franui uncover Mahler’s folk music sources of inspiration, break down large-scale orchestral songs into a pocket version and are not afraid to translate its musical language to today’s standards, the Bavarian Radio Choir is particularly at home in Mahler’s large-scale symphonic music. A combination that perfectly reflects the richness of Mahler’s compositions!

1 November 2024, Philharmonie Essen
WOHIN ICH GEH’
Musicbanda Franui / Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Andreas Schett, moderator / Howard Arman, conductor
Works by C. Loewe, G. Mahler, M. Moszkowski, R. Strauss, W. Grosz

The Babylon ORCHESTRA unites European and Middle Eastern music, combining different cultures to bring the cultural diversity of our time to life at the highest artistic level. In its concerts, the ensemble tells musical stories, revives traditions and takes its audience on journeys to distant worlds. Founder and artistic director, Mischa Tangian, has written a work for orchestra and percussion for the Staatsorchester Stuttgart, which will be premiered in Stuttgart at the end of October. The work, entitled The Order of Time, centers on the encounter between European and non-European musical cultures and their instruments. The soloist for the evening is Iranian percussionist Roshanak Rafani, conducted by Tianyi Lu.

27 & 28 October 2024, Staatsoper Stuttgart / Liederhalle
THE ORDER OF TIME
Roshanak Rafani, percussion / Babylon ORCHESTRA & Staatsorchester Stuttgart / Tianyi Lu, conductor
Works by G. Kancheli, M. Tangian (world premiere) & A. Dvořák

Dear colleagues & concert friends

The 2024/25 season began with a special event for us: Andreas Richter Cultural Consulting GmbH celebrated its 10th birthday in September with many companions! It was a special pleasure to welcome Sarah Willis and the Sarahbanda to this occasion, who gave us and our guests the perfect party atmosphere with an exclusive concert!

Music in all its facets, people and our relationships with them are at the heart of our work. This applies to our current team of eight people, the artists we work with, the organisers with whom we have been able to build valuable and trusting relationships, our cooperation partners who support and help shape our ideas and, of course, our business partners and colleagues. A big thank you to all of you for 10 years of great collaboration!

As we all know, after the party is before the party – and so we are delighted to be able to give a preview of the upcoming concerts of some of our orchestras today. Until the end of October, we will be on the road with Phantasm Viol Consort, Sarah Willis and the Orquesta de Navarra, Babylon ORCHESTRA, the Buchmann-Mehta Symphony Orchestra, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Austrian Musicbanda Franui. There is also news from Classical:NEXT and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.

Time flies – and before we know it, ten years have passed!

In autumn 2014, Andreas Richter Cultural Consulting GmbH launched a project that marked a first milestone in more ways than one: to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, we organised a multi-day residency by the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) with many concerts along the Berlin LICHTGRENZE, chamber music at the Berlin Wall Memorial and a concert conducted by Lorenza Borrani as part of the annual Europe speech at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. With this project, we not only reached several thousand enthusiastic people from all over the world in Berlin (as well as several million viewers of the ZDF heute journal), but above all we were able to show what our work should be about in the future: To present music in all its diversity, in different formats with first-class artists in a context that has an impact on life – and to do this in an international setting, with artists from Europe and overseas, and in co-operation with creative and clever partners.

The one initial project has now grown into a comprehensive list of activities: we represent some of the best original sound orchestras and ensembles, realise flagship projects with major symphony orchestras, expand the established boundaries of repertoire and concert format with the next generation of independent orchestras, learn more and more about non-European classical music, and work with many partners to ensure that music remains relevant in the future.

People and our relationships with them are always at the centre of our work. This applies to our current team of eight people, the artists we work with, the event organisers with whom we have been able to build valuable and trusting relationships, our cooperation partners who support and help shape our ideas, and of course our business partners and colleagues. A big thank you to all of you for 10 years of great collaboration!

Here is a brief insight into our history:

Let’s celebrate!

Of course, we didn’t miss the opportunity to throw a proper birthday party! On 17 September 2024 at Tangoloft Berlin (in Kühlhaus Berlin), we toasted to the last and next 10 years with around 100 guests; Sarah Willis and The Sarahbanda congratulated us musically – thank you very much for that too!

Boundaries are there to be explored and overcome: a conviction that has led the Belgian B’Rock Orchestra and its spiritus rector René Jacobs to sensational interpretations of the baroque and classical repertoire in the past. The interpretation of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis is now on the programme, together with the congenial Zürcher Sing-Akademie.

René Jacobs receives this year’s Musikfest Prize, which the festival has awarded annually since 1998 to important soloists, ensembles, orchestras and conductors who have made their own mark in the international music world through their outstanding artistic work and have helped to shape the profile of the Musikfest: “René Jacobs has been one of the formative protagonists of the Flemish-Dutch original sound movement for decades. With his pioneering spirit and in-depth study of scores and historical sources, he subjects works from the early Baroque to the Romantic period to a captivating new light.” (From the jury statement.)

5 September 2024, Musikfest Bremen
Birgitte Christensen, soprano / Sophie Harmsen, mezzo-soprano / Thomas Walker, tenor / Johannes Weisser, baritone / Zürcher Sing-Akademie / René Jacobs, conductor
L.v. Beethoven: Missa Solemnis in D. major op. 123

It is with great regret that the Galilee Chamber Orchestra from Israel has cancelled its planned concerts with Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider and Saleem Ashkar in Amsterdam (9 August 2024), at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (11 August 2024) and at Young Euro Classic (12 August 2024) due to the current international situation.

All three organisers have emphasised that they look forward to welcoming the orchestra as soon as circumstances allow.

We have some anniversaries to celebrate! First, Molyvos International Chamber Music Festival, which Danae and Kiveli Dörken have been running with great passion, and Building Bridges, Sir András Schiff’s wonderful project, are both turning 10 this year. And in autumn, we look forward to our own anniversary! Andreas Richter Cultural Consulting GmbH was founded in October 2014. The coming season will offer several opportunities to celebrate – stay tuned!

Until the end of October, we look forward to more special concerts with Galilee Chamber Orchestra, Sarah Willis’ Sarahbanda and Compagnia di Punto, with B’Rock Orchestra and Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, with Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Phantasm Viol Consort and Babylon ORCHESTRA!

While the current season is drawing to a close for many concert halls, the festival season is already in full swing. Over the next few weeks, some of our orchestras and ensembles will be performing at Bachfest Leipzig (Babylon Orchestra), Mozartfest Würzburg (Finnish Baroque Orchestra), STROOM Festival in Ghent (Stegreif – Tehe Improvising Symphony Orchestra), Schubertiade (Oberon Trio), Athens Epidaurus Festival (Chamber Orchestra of Europe), at the Canadian Lanaudière Festival (Freiburger Barockorchester), at Ruhr Piano Festival (Building Bridges pianists), Herrenchiemsee Festival (Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century), Salzburg Festival (Vox Luminis) and at Festivo in Aschau (Europa Galante).