Mahler Chamber Orchestra

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) was founded in 1997 as a self-determined and freely financed orchestra. With around 50 members from 25 countries, it forms a “global collective” whose management is based in Berlin. Chamber music-like exchange characterizes the sound of this ­orchestra, which performs regularly at Lucerne Festival, at the Berlin Philharmonie, and in Salzburg. It took over artistic director­ship of the Hitzacker Music Week in 2024 and, starting in 2026, will succeed the Berliner Philharmoniker to perform opera productions at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival. The MCO has been significantly influenced by its founding mentor Claudio Abbado and its Conductor Laureate Daniel Harding. It works closely with a network of Artistic Partners. These currently include the pianists Mitsuko Uchida and Yuja Wang, with whom the MCO tours several times a year; they are joined by conductor Daniele Gatti as Artistic Advisor. Last season, Sir Simon Rattle, Tugan Sokhiev, Maxim Emelyanychev, and Anja Bihlmaier were guests on the podium. On the program for the 2024-25 season are concerts with conductors including Antonello Manacorda, Gianandrea Noseda, Elim Chan, Raphaël Pichon, and Joana Mallwitz, as well as with violinists Augustin Hadelich and Daniel Lozakovich. The MCO is also breaking new social ground with its programs, including the “Feel the Music” workshop for people with hearing impairments, numerous school concerts, and the MCO Academy projects that offer training to the emerging generation. The orchestra has additionally developed new concert formats in the realm of virtual reality.

Lucerne Festival (IMF) debut on 8 September 1999, when Kurt Masur conducted works by Mozart and Beethoven.

For further information on this ensemble, visit their homepage at: http://www.mahlerchamber.com

August 2024