Kirill Petrenko & Die Orchesterakademie des Bayerischen Staatsorchesters
Festival Concert by the Orchestra Academy 2017

A look ahead: Since its foundation, the Bayerische Staatsorchester's Orchestra Academy can look back over a 15 year history, yet, as always, it has its sights firmly fixed on the future. After all, the aim of the two-year programme is to prepare young musicians for all aspects of working life in a great opera-house orchestra, and many of the participants have gone on to play in important orchestras – not least the Staatsorchester itself. Now the General Music Director Kirill Petrenko will conduct the Orchestra Academy's Festival Concert for the first time, which will be taking place in the particularly festive surroundings of the Prinzregententheater this season. And they are looking to the future in other ways, too, since the Friends and Supporters of the Musikalische Akademie e.V (the Musical Academy Association) have commissioned a composition from a new, emerging musician; something which they do at regular intervals. This year sees a contribution from Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen entitled Two Inger Christensen Songs: songs based on this distinctive poet's texts. This exquisite piece for soprano and seven instrumentalists is part of Abrahamsen's growing work-cycle around the theme of “Snow” – which will have a special role to play in the coming years at the Bayerische Staatsoper. In addition, the programme will include various ensemble pieces, mostly from the early and mid 20th century, such as the rarely performed theatrical music for Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and the Chamber Music No. 1 by the young and wild Paul Hindemith, plus other works yet to be revealed.