Andrea Zietzschmann will leave her position as general manager of the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation when her current contract expires in August 2028, bringing to an end an 11-year tenure that has spanned the orchestra’s transition to the Kirill Petrenko era, the COVID-19 pandemic and a period of major international expansion.
The foundation announced that Zietzschmann has decided not to seek a third term, giving the orchestra and the Berlin Senate almost two years to prepare the search for her successor.
Appointed in September 2017, Zietzschmann took office two years before Petrenko became the orchestra’s chief conductor. Her tenure has coincided with a period in which the Berliner Philharmoniker reinforced its international profile while navigating one of the most challenging chapters in its history during the pandemic, when concert activity was severely disrupted.
In explaining her decision, Zietzschmann said she believed 2028 was the appropriate moment for a leadership transition, particularly with the extensive refurbishment of the Philharmonie Berlin scheduled to begin in 2032.
“The comprehensive refurbishment of the Philharmonie scheduled for 2032 will require a general manager who is thoroughly familiar with the project and can see this ambitious undertaking through to completion in the long term,” she said. “The timing I have chosen for this change is intended to facilitate this.”
She added that she intends to remain fully committed to the orchestra until the end of her mandate.
Petrenko paid tribute to the administrator who has worked alongside him throughout his entire tenure in Berlin, highlighting her role during the pandemic and praising her ability to steer the orchestra through rapidly changing political and organisational challenges.
“From the very beginning, she has worked tirelessly to remove any obstacles in my path so that I could concentrate on the actual job,” he said, adding that her leadership had made many of the orchestra’s recent successes possible.
The orchestra’s elected board representatives, Eva-Maria Tomasi and Walter Küssner, welcomed the early notice, saying it would allow sufficient time to conduct a careful succession process in cooperation with Berlin’s cultural authorities.
Berlin’s Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion, Stefan Evers, described Zietzschmann as an “outstanding cultural manager,” crediting her with strengthening the foundation’s international network, broadening access to the Philharmonie and helping maintain the artistic standards of one of the world’s leading orchestras.
Before joining the Berliner Philharmoniker, Zietzschmann served as general manager of the Staatstheater Braunschweig and previously held senior administrative positions at the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
Her successor will inherit one of the most prominent management positions in the orchestral world, overseeing not only the Berliner Philharmoniker and its globally recognised Digital Concert Hall, but also preparations for the ambitious modernisation of the Philharmonie Berlin in the next decade.
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