The Konzerthaus Berlin has announced that South Korean composer Unsuk Chin will serve as Composer in Residence during its 2026–27 season, which will also feature a Beethoven-focused series led by Chief Conductor Joana Mallwitz, the 75th anniversary of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, and two thematic festivals exploring humanity’s place in the world.
The season was presented on 2 June by Intendant Tobias Rempe and Mallwitz. Chin’s residency will include several performances of her works throughout the season, culminating in the German premiere of Le Chant des Enfants des Étoiles for children’s choir, mixed choir, organ and orchestra in April 2027.
Born in Seoul in 1961, Chin studied with György Ligeti in Hamburg and has built an international career with performances by many of the world’s leading orchestras and ensembles. She received the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2024 and has lived in Berlin since 1988.
The residency begins with the season-opening concerts on 12 and 13 September, when Mallwitz and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin will perform Chin’s orchestral work Subito con forza alongside music by Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel and Sergei Prokofiev. Later in the season, Alban Gerhardt will perform Chin’s Cello Concerto under Giedrė Šlekytė, while François-Xavier Roth will conduct her orchestral work Alaraph (Ritus des Herzschlags) in the season’s closing concerts.
A highlight of the residency will be the German premiere of Le Chant des Enfants des Étoiles on 24 April 2027 as part of the festival Unter Sternen (“Under the Stars”). Conducted by Stephanie Childress, the programme will also include Gustav Holst’s The Planets.
The season’s Artist in Residence will be German soprano Vera-Lotte Boecker, who will appear in orchestral concerts, a recital and a portrait programme dedicated to her artistic influences.
Another major focus of the season will be Beethoven, ahead of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death in 2027. Mallwitz will devote her popular Expedition Concerts to Beethoven’s symphonies, beginning with the First Symphony in January and continuing throughout the season. Beethoven will also feature prominently in celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin.
Among Mallwitz’s other projects are a performance of Hans Werner Henze’s Symphony No. 9 at Musikfest Berlin, programmes featuring music by Beethoven, Martinů, Sarah Nemtsov and Tchaikovsky, and an end-of-season tour taking the orchestra to cities including Paris, Brussels, Cologne and Munich.
The Konzerthaus will also present two festivals built around the season’s central theme of humanity’s place in the world. NOWHERE, in November 2026, will explore the physical experience of music through unconventional concert formats and collaborations with experimental artists, while Unter Sternen, in April 2027, will focus on musical reflections on space and the universe.
Other initiatives include Aşina, a new series devoted to musical traditions from Anatolia, Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean, and an augmented reality project that will digitally add three women composers to the busts displayed in the Konzerthaus’s Great Hall.
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