Cast

Composer

Ludger Vollmer

Studies:
Studied violin, viola and composition in Weimar and Leipzig; 1990 diploma (viola); 1998-94 orchestral musician in Leipzig, Magdeburg, Erfurt, since then freelance musician. Musician; 1994-95 student of Alfred Schnittke, Hamburg; 1994-98 Dipl.- Ped. Improv. (Peter Jarchow, Leipzig); 1995-99 Dipl.-Stud. Compos. with concert exam (Dimitri Terzakis, Leipzig); since 1995 study visits to Norway, Turkey, Israel, Greece;

Prizes:
2009 European Tolerance Prize
2011 German Theater Prize Der Faust for the Stuttgart production of the opera GEGEN DIE WAND (director: Neco Celik)
2014 Weimar Prize
2017 Thuringian Composition Prize

Important productions:
Opera:
PAUL UND PAULA oder DIE LEGENDE VOM GLÜCK OHNE ENDE (world premiere 2003, Carus); GEGEN DIE WAND (world premiere 2008, Schott); SCHILLERS RÄUBER_RAP'N BREAKDANCE OPERA (world premiere 2009, Schott); BORDER (world premiere 2012, Schott); LOLA RENNT (UA 2013, Schott); CRUSADES (UA 2017, Schott); TSCHICK (UA 2017, Schott); THE CIRCLE (UA 2019, Schott); ZUSAMMENSTOSS (UA 2024, Schott); BUDDENBROOKS (UA 2024, Schott)

Dance theater:
DREAMCATCHER (1996/97, premiere bönig körperschafft, electro-acoustics and live music, Festspielhaus Hellerau/ Tanzfest Dresden); DER DREISPITZ (Kunstfest Weimar 2002/ Mexico- Tour 2004, Dance Company Bettina Owczarek)

Orchestra:
BORDER - SYMPHONIC ESCAPES (premiere 2014, Schott); DANSES RITUELLES D'EVOCATION DU VÉRITABLE PRINTEMPS #4 (2017, Schott); ZWEI PARALLELEN, EINE SUITE (2017, Schott)

Solo with orchestra:
DIE BERNAUERIN, concerto for harpsichord and strings (premiere 1996, Schott); CONCERT for violin and orchestra (2020, Schott)

Cantatas:
CLARA! , cantata for the 200th birthday of Clara Schumann, 2 soli, choir, chamber orchestra (premiere Dresden 2019, Schott); EIN JEGLICHES HAT SEINE ZEIT, festive cantata 30 Jahre Friedliche Revolution; 2 soli, choir, organ & orchestra (premiere Jena 2019, Schott)

Chamber music:
MY LOVE IS AS A FEVER, for string quartet (premiere 2004, Schott); STEADFAST AGAINST THE SUN, for flute and guitar, (premiere 2003, Ed.Margeaux); TWO HYMNS for string quartet/ alt. Saxophone quartet (prem. 2010/ 2017, Schott); Trio for saxophone, accordion & percussion (prem. Hamburg 2017, Schott)

As well as: Acting music, film and media music

Career stages:
Teaching since 1990. MS Weimar and Jena (MKS) and FHS Jena (1998-2001); work as a composer (performances in Europe, Australia, Asia, both Americas) with a focus on music theater. Evening performances. Operas in Vienna (State Opera), Bremen, Istanbul, Stuttgart, Cologne, Karlsruhe, Darmstadt, Duisburg, Nordhausen, Regensburg, Hagen, Freiburg, Weimar, among others. Publisher: SCHOTT Music GmbH, jury member: e.g. “Jugend musiziert”, AMH (Deutsche Bank Foundation). 2019 Chairman of the German Composers' Association, LV Hamburg. 2020 President of the Hamburg State Music Council. Lives in Hamburg.

Find further information about Ludger Vollmer here.

Performances

• Frühlings Erwachen

photo: Christiane Weber

Text

Martin G. Berger

Martin G. Berger was born in Berlin in 1987 and grew up in Berlin, Istanbul and Munich.

His work as a director, author and translator has taken him all over the German-speaking world, including Theater Basel, Hanover State Opera, Aalto-Theater Essen, Theater an der Wien, Staatstheater Kassel, Oper Dortmund, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Deutsche Oper Berlin (Tischlerei), Luzerner Theater, Theater Bremen, Theater Trier, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Staatstheater Augsburg, Theater Heidelberg, Volksoper Wien (Kasino am Schwarzenbergplatz), Staatsoperette Dresden, Theater Oberhausen and Neuköllner Oper.

Martin G. Berger has received awards and nominations for his productions, winning the German theater prize FAUST in the category “Best Director Musical Theater” in 2020, after having already been nominated for it in 2018 and nominated for the Götz Friedrich Prize in 2015. He won the Karan Armstrong Prize of the Götz Friedrich Foundation, the German Musical Theater Prize 2016 for Best Director, the Trier Musical Award 2016 and the Orpheus Award for Special Services to Operetta in 2018. His production of The Barber of Seville was named Best Production in the 2019 NRW Critics' Poll.

Martin G. Berger is characterized by his wide range. He works in opera, operetta and musicals, but also in drama, in performance collectives and with puppeteers. He often adapts works in his own way and brings together performers from different genres for his productions.

Berger also appears as an author and translator. His translation of “Maskerade” premiered at Oper Frankfurt in 2021 in a production by Tobias Kratzer. His versions of “Candide”, “Follies” and “Anyone Can Whistle” are published by “Musik und Bühne”, “La Cage Aux Folles” by Felix Bloch Erben. The latter translation was first performed in 2022 in a production by Barry Koskie.

The musical “Der geteilte Himmel” premiered in 2022 at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater (music: Wolfgang Böhmer), “Kasimir und Karoline” in 2023 at the Staatsoper Hannover (with Martin Mutschler, music: Jherek Bischoff), “Der 35. Mai” (with Jasper Sonne and Michael Ellis Ingram) will have its world premiere in 2024 at Theater Bremen. The new opera “Frühlings Erwachen” (music: Ludger Vollmer) will be produced by the Hamburg State Opera at Kampnagel in 2025.

Martin G. Berger was opera director at the Mecklenburg State Theater in the 21/22 season.

Berger's path into directing led him to several years as a permanent assistant at the Dortmund Opera and the Hanover State Opera. He assisted renowned directors such as Christine Mielitz, Sebastian Baumgarten, Stefan Huber and Benedikt von Peter.

Find further information about Martin G. Berger here.

Performances

• Frühlings Erwachen

photo: Thomas M. Jauck

Neco Çelik

Birthplace:
West-Berlin, Deutschland

Prizes:
"Urban Guerillas", Audience Award - Nuremberg Film Festival; Filmtage Würzburg (2004), Mühlheimer Theatertage: nomination for the Mühlheimer Dramatiker Preis with the production of "Schwarze Jungfrauen" (2007), "Gegen die Wand", was awarded the German Theater Prize "Der Faust" for the best directorial work in Ludger Vollmer's opera "Gegen die Wand" (2011), "Schweinemilch", Alternative Media Prize in the film category (2015), et al.

Important productions:
"MC MESSER" UA (director/text) composer: Michael Lohmann, Urban Arts Ensemble Ruhr in cooperation with Theater Oberhausen (2024), "Moskau Tscherjomuschki" (director) composer: Dimitri Schostakowitsch Staatstheater Braunschweig (2018), "Benjamin" UA (director) composer: Gion Antoni Derungs, Junge Oper Stuttgart (2017), "Vertrauenssache" (director) composer: Ernst Krenek, Staatsoper Berlin (2013), "Gegen die Wand" (director) composer: Ludger Vollmer, Junge Oper Stuttgart (2010), "Schwarze Jungfrauen" UA (director), book: Feridun Zaimoglu Hebbel Theater am Ufer (HAU) (2006), et al.

Career stages:
Director at the Münchner Kammerspiele (2007); Director at the Staatsoper Berlin (2012-2013-2015), et al.

Performances

• Frühlings Erwachen

Alexander Wolf

Biography will be published shortly.

Performances

• Frühlings Erwachen

Video

Jan Speckenbach

Birthplace:
Muenster, Germany

Studies:
Art science, media arts, philosophy in Munich, Karlsruhe and Paris, Directorial studies at Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie in Berlin

Prizes:
“Made in Germany – Förderpreis Perspektive” for the screenplay project “Das Klopfen der Steine” (2013), nomination for “Die Vermissten” at European Film Award as best debut film (2012), severel prizes for the short film “Spatzen“ as well as the qualification for the „Short List” for the Oscar (2009-10), Nestroy-Preis for best video work in “Forever Young”, direction: Frank Castorf (2003), Heinrich-Klotz-Stipendium (2001), Gunter-Schroff-Preis (1994)

Important productions:
(films) “Freiheit“ (2017), “Die Vermissten“ (2012), “Spatzen“ (2009), “Gestern in Eden“ (2008), “Zeitspuren“ (2004)

Collaborations with directors:
Frank Castorf, Claus Peymann, Christoph Schlingensief, Jan Bosse, Amélie Niermeyer, Milan Peschel, Martin Wuttke et al.

Performances

• Frühlings Erwachen

photo: Øglænd

Dramaturge

Dr. Angela Beuerle

Origin:
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Studies:
Musicology, German and Scandinavian Studies, University of Hamburg; doctorate (Dr. phil.) with a thesis on medieval language theory

Career stages:
Freelance dramaturge for music theatre (since 2014), teaching at the theatre academy of the HfMT Hamburg (since 2014), dramaturge for music theatre at Staatstheater Stuttgart (2006-2014), freelance artistic participation at Hamburgische Staatsoper, Ruhrtriennale (until 2006); publishes regularly in the fields of opera, concert, music and literature

Cooperations:
Peter Konwitschny, La fura dels baus, Joachim Schlömer, Igor Bauersima, Yona Kim, Thomas Bischoff, Markus Dietz, Calixto Bieito, Andrea Moses, Jossi Wieler/Sergio Morabito, Lydia Steier, Philipp Himmelmann, u. a.

Performances

• La clemenza di Tito
• Der Freischütz
• Ariadne auf Naxos
• Die dunkle Seite des Mondes
• Frühlings Erwachen

Alanah Chrispeels

Biography will be published shortly.

Performances

• Tonangeber
• Frühlings Erwachen

photo: Alanah Chrispeels

Mitglieder des The Young ClassX Ensembles

Ob mit dem Felix Mendelssohn Jugendorchester in der Elbphilharmonie, im Zuhause des Bundespräsidenten auf Schloss Bellevue oder zusammen mit der Staatsoper Hamburg in Shanghai – das The Young ClassX Ensemble ist in Hamburg und über die Grenzen der Hansestadt unterwegs.
In dem Jugendchor sind besonders engagierte und begabte Sänger:innen der von The Young ClassX in Hamburg geförderten Schulchöre. In diesem Rahmen können Jugendliche des Vereins ihre Fähigkeiten noch weiter ausbauen. Bei den intensiven Chorproben unter der Leitung von Michael Zlanabitnig entstehen neben dem gemeinsamen Singen auch Freundschaften, die weit über die Musik und Stadtbezirke hinausgehen. Zusätzlich werden die Schüler:innen in Einzelstunden von der Gesangspädagogin Nina Lahme geschult. Die Angebote sind für die Beteiligten kostenlos.
Seit der Gründung vor zehn Jahren, setzt sich der Verein unter anderem für eine breitere Chorlandschaft in enger Kooperation mit der Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung an Hamburger Schulen ein. Inzwischen sind über 50 Chöre in allen Klassenstufen und Himmelsrichtungen der Hansestadt dabei und verfolgen dort das Gründungsziel von The Young ClassX: Die Begeisterung für Musik in Kindern und Jugendlichen zu wecken und zu fördern.
The Young ClassX ist eine Initiative der Otto Group und des Ensembles Salut Salon.

Find further information about Mitglieder des The Young ClassX Ensembles here.

Performances

• Frühlings Erwachen

photo: Michaela Kuhn

Orchestra

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

The Philharmonic State Orchestra is Hamburg’s largest and oldest orchestra, looking back on many years of musical history. When the “Philharmonic Orchestra” and the “Orchestra of the Hamburg Municipal Theatre” merged in 1934, two tradition-steeped orchestras combined. Philharmonic concerts have been performed in Hamburg since 1828, artists such as Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms being regular guests of the Philharmonic Society. The history of the opera company goes back even further: Hamburg has been home to musical theatre since 1678, even if a regular opera or theatre orchestra was only formed later. To this day, the Philharmonic State Orchestra has embodied the sound of the Hansa City, a concert and opera orchestra in one.

During its long history, the orchestra encountered great artist personalities. Apart from composers of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, such as Telemann, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Mahler, Prokofiev and Stravinsky, since the 20th century chief conductors such as Karl Muck, Joseph Keilberth, Eugen Jochum, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Horst Stein, Aldo Ceccato, Christoph von Dohnányi, Gerd Albrecht, Ingo Metzmacher and Simone Young have shaped the orchestra’s sound. Renowned conductors of the pre-war era such as Otto Klemperer, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Karl Böhm and Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt gave brilliant performances, as did outstanding conductors of our times: suffice it to mention Christian Thielemann, Semyon Bychkov, Kirill Petrenko, Adam Fischer and Sir Roger Norrington.

Starting with the 2015/2016 season, Kent Nagano has taken on the position of Hamburg’s General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra and the Hamburg State Opera and since June 2023 also its honorary conductor. In his first season Kent Nagano initiated a new project, the Philharmonic Academy, focusing on experimentation and chamber music. In 2016, Nagano and the Philharmonic toured South America, followed by concert tours to Spain and Japan in 2019, and in the spring of 2023, the Philharmonic State Orchestra made its debut at New York's Carnegie Hall under his direction, which was acclaimed by audiences and the press. Since 2017 Kent Nagano and the Philharmonic State Orchestra have continued the traditional Philharmonic Concerts at the new Elbphilharmonie, for which they commissioned Jörg Widmann to compose the oratorio ARCHE, which was given its world premiere during the hall’s opening festivities. The concert recording has been released by ECM, for which Widmann received the OPUS KLASSIK as Composer of the Year 2019, and ARCHE was performed again in 2023 to great acclaim.

The Philharmonic State Orchestra offers approximately 35 concerts per season and performs more than 240 performances per year at the Hamburg State Opera and the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier, making it Hamburg’s busiest orchestra. The stylistic bandwidth covered by the 140 musicians, ranging from historically informed performance practice to contemporary works and including concert, opera and ballet repertoire, is unique throughout Germany. Chamber Music has a long tradition at the Philharmonic State Orchestra: what began in 1929 with a concert series for chamber orchestra has been continued since 1968 by a series of chamber music only.

In 2008 Simone Young and the Philharmonic State Orchestra won the Brahms Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Brahms Society. The orchestra has recorded the complete Ring by Wagner as well as the complete symphonies of Johannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner – the latter in the rarely-performed original versions – as well as works by Mahler, Hindemith and Berg, and has released DVDs of opera and ballet productions by Hosokawa, Offenbach, Reimann, Auerbach, J.S. Bach, Puccini, Poulenc and Weber.

The members of the Philharmonic State Orchestra feel equally beholden to Hamburg’s musical tradition and responsible for the city’s artistic future. Since 1978 the musicians have been participating in education programmes in Hamburg’s schools. Today, the orchestra maintains a broad education programme, including school and kindergarten visits, patronage for music projects, introductory events for children and family concerts. The orchestra’s own academy prepares young musicians for their professional careers. The Philharmonic’s musicians thereby make an equally enjoyable and valuable contribution to tomorrow’s music education in the music metropolis of Hamburg.

Performances

• Rathausmarkt Open Air
• 1st Academy Concert - Program I
• 1st Academy Concert - Program II
• 1st Academy Concert - Program III
• 4th Academy Concert
• Trionfi
• Carmen
• The Times Are Racing
• 1st Philharmonic Concert
• Kannst du pfeifen, Johanna
• Boris Godunov
• Special chamber concert
• Tosca
• Jubiläumsgala: 30 Jahre Internationales Opernstudio
• La clemenza di Tito
• Orchesterprobenbesuch
• 2nd Philharmonic Concert
• Don Giovanni
• Jane Eyre
• 3rd Philharmonic Concert
• Elektra
• Der Freischütz
• Luisa Miller
• La Bohème
• Slow Burn
• 4th Philharmonic Concert
• Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel)
• Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
• The Nutcracker
• New Year's Eve concert
• Der fliegende Holländer
• 5th Philharmonic Concert
• THE ART OF Lise Davidsen
• Die Kreide im Mund des Wolfs
• Ariadne auf Naxos
• Manon
• 6th Philharmonic Concert
• Les Contes d'Hoffmann
• Mitridate, re di Ponto
• Eugene Onegin
• 7th Philharmonic Concert
• PhiSch - das Staatsorchester hautnah...
• Don Pasquale
• Rigoletto
• Maria Stuarda
• La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)
• Il trovatore
• Falstaff
• 8th Philharmonic Concert
• La Traviata
• The Odyssey
• Parsifal
• Pique Dame
• Opening concert of the Hamburg International Music Festival
• Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank
• Romeo and Juliet
• Die dunkle Seite des Mondes
• Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde)
• 9th Philharmonic Concert
• Salome
• National Youth Ballet
• Nijinsky
• Frühlings Erwachen
• Così fan tutte
• Le Nozze di Figaro
• 10th Philharmonic Concert
• Demian
• Nijinsky Gala L

photo: Foto: Felix Broede

Orchester

Felix Mendelssohn Jugendorchester

Das Felix Mendelssohn Jugendorchester gehört mit über 100 Mitglieder im Alter zwischen 10 und 27 Jahren zu den größten Jugendsinfonieorchestern in Deutschland. Seit seiner Gründung im Jahr 1973 durch Rainer Holdhoff konnte das Orchester in Konzertsälen wie dem Mozarteum Salzburg, der Halle aux Grains in Toulouse oder dem Dvořák und Smetana Saal in Prag ein nationales und internationales Publikum begeistern. Im Januar 2017 hatte das Orchester die Ehre, als erstes Jugendensemble im Großen Saal der neu eröffneten Elbphilharmonie zu spielen. Im selbigen Jahr erhielt das MJO zudem den Europäischen Nachwuchsorchesterpreis. Namhafte Dirigenten wie Christoph von Dohnányi, Kent Nagano, Sir Jeffrey Tate, Ion Marin, Guy Braunstein, John Axelrod, Robert Trevino und Eivind Gullberg Jensen probten bereits mit dem Felix Mendelssohn Jugendorchester, das seit der Spielzeit 2013/2014 Patenorchester der Symphoniker Hamburg ist. Künstlerischer Leiter ist seit 2003 Prof. Clemens Malich.

Nach langjähriger Zusammenarbeit ist das Felix Mendelssohn Jugendorchester seit 2013 in der Trägerschaft von The Young ClassX. Viele Mitglieder des Orchesters unterrichten als Assistant Coaches im Instrumentalmodul der Musikinitiative und geben ihre Begeisterung für klassische Musik an junge Stipendiat*innen weiter.

Der musikalische Schwerpunkt dieses Klangkörpers liegt auf Werken aus der Romantik bis in die Moderne sowie auf „großen“ Solowerken. Solist*innen, die bereits mit dem MJO auftraten, waren neben jungen Talenten des Orchesters u.a. auch Künstler*innen wie Jan Vogler und Johannes Moser.

Performances

• Frühlings Erwachen

photo: Jon Trachsel