Our anniversary project entitled “Northern Light” begins on December 27, 2025, with the arrival of approximately 90 orchestra members and ends on January 3/4, 2026, with two concerts at the Berlin Philharmonie:
- a family concert on Saturday, January 3, 2026, at 3:30 p.m. in the Chamber Music Hall
- and the grand anniversary concert on Sunday, January 4, at 3:30 p.m. in the Main Hall
An extensive team of prominent orchestra musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Philharmonia Orchestra London and other orchestras will be responsible for rehearsing the various sections of the orchestra. A special feature is that Torbjörn Hultmark, the brass instructor, is part of this team, having played in the orchestra himself during the very first German-Scandinavian Orchestra Week (New Year 1982).
The „Northern Light“ – aurora borealis – is one of the most characteristic and impressive phenomena of Nordic nature; in our project, it stands for the radiance and expressiveness of the North, to which we have felt connected for almost 50 years now. For the upcoming anniversary, the founder and director of the orchestra, Andreas Peer Kähler, will compose a work with the same title, “Nordlicht,” which will then receive its festive premiere at the Philharmonie. The first half of the concert will be rounded off with Richard Strauss’s brilliant symphonic poem “Don Juan,” conducted by Martin Braun.
The second half will begin with the small but intense work “Darf ich?” by Arvo Pärt – a tribute to his 90th birthday a few weeks earlier; the soloist is Silvan Irniger, the orchestra’s long-time concertmaster. The concert will be crowned by Jean Sibelius’ famous Second Symphony – THE Nordic symphony par excellence … A special touch is that its finale was already on the program of the very first German-Nordic Orchestra Week in January 1982.
PROGRAM OF THE JUBILEE CONCERT AT THE PHILHARMONIE BERLIN
Andreas Peer Kähler Nordlicht Commissioned work / world premiere
Richard Strauss Don Juan op. 20
Arvo Pärt Darf ich…?
Jean Sibelius Symphony Nr. 2 D-Dur op. 43
The German-Nordic Youth Philharmonic is an international symphony orchestra based in Berlin, which conducts its work in the form of orchestra courses. The founder, artistic director and conductor of the orchestra, Andreas Peer Kähler, is supported by a highly qualified team of experienced instructors. The orchestra is made up of about 90 young musicians from approximately 30 countries around the world, most of whom are students at international music colleges and academies.
The German-Nordic Youth Philharmonic designs its concert programs thematically and often commissions compositions for them. The orchestra is known for its dramaturgically exciting and unconventionally designed concert programs as well as for its outstanding music education work. Since 2021, in addition to its traditional concert in early January at the Philharmonie, it has also performed regularly in June as part of the family concert series of the Kammerorchester Unter den Linden in the Kammermusiksaal of the Philharmonie.
The upcoming project at the turn of 2025/26 will be dedicated to a major anniversary we are celebrating: the orchestra’s 50th working phase. Since the first German-Nordic Orchestra Week, which took place over New Year’s Eve 1981/82, as a spontaneous student project under very basic conditions in what was then West Berlin, the orchestra has witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall, several economic crises and COVID-19, has continued to develop artistically and organizationally, and has established itself as a small but very special and self-confident part of Berlin’s musical life.
The German-Nordic Youth Philharmonic Orchestra is a registered, non-profit association with the aim of promoting musical youth work and is a corporate member of Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland.