The Barbican and South Bank have just announced final details of the Berlin Philharmonic’s next London residency in February 2015.

It comes a month after Sir Simon Rattle’s 60th birth and he wants to mark the event with favourite works and an education project. Mahler’s second symphony and a Sibelius cycle cover the first category. The second consists of the creation of a Young Orchestra for London.

Read the full release below.

Most of the concerts are fully sold out.

The Barbican and Southbank Centre present:
Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker –
The London Residency 2015
(10-15 February 2015)

Recruitment for a ‘Young Orchestra for London’ as part of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s London Residency is now under way

 

The Barbican Centre and Southbank Centre are bringing Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker to London for a major residency in 2015.  Following the great success of the orchestra’s London concerts series in 2011, the week-long residency will feature performances in the Barbican Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Festival Hall from 10-15 February 2015. It will bring the two arts centres together in a series of concerts and in creative learning work with young people from all the London boroughs, both north and south of the river Thames.

Sir Simon Rattle has chosen to mark his 60^th birthday with this London residency, choosing music that has a special significance for him: a complete cycle of Sibelius’s seven symphonies in honour of the 150^th anniversary of the composer’s birth, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and music by pioneering German composer Helmut Lachenmann. The residency is also a celebration of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle, one of classical music’s most outstanding artistic partnerships, and a showcase of one of the world’s greatest orchestras.

Full concert listings below.

As part of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s The London Residency 2015, Southbank Centre and Barbican Guildhall in collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra will join forces for an education project that brings together a brand new young mixed-ability (Grade 3 and above) orchestra, theYoung Orchestra for London. The project culminates in two landmark performances by the Young Orchestra for London – one on the Barbican Concert Hall Stage (12 Feb) and one on Southbank Centre’s Clore Ballroom (15 Feb), both led by Sir Simon Rattle.

Following an open recruitment day at Southbank Centre, online application to the orchestra is now open and will close at noon on Friday 5 December. All applicants will be required to attend a selection workshop in December and by the end of the year 100 young people aged 11 – 21 from across the 33 boroughs in London will have been selected to take part.

From 11 January 2015 the Young Orchestra for London gets together for a series of repertoire rehearsals and workshops, where the young players can learn about general musicianship skills and the repertoire that is being performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker during the residency. Sessions are creatively overseen by Rachel Leach and full orchestral rehearsals will be led by conductors Ben Gernon and Duncan Ward with musicians from theLondon Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra supporting some of the sessions. Sectionals will take place with the support from members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, who will also be available for online Q&A sessions with the young musicians.

In February 2015 the project culminates in two performances at the Barbican and Southbank Centre which will see the Young Orchestra for London conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. The programmes include Sibelius Finlandia and a movement from Malcolm Arnold’s Little Suite No.2, plus a newly commissioned piece entitled Zero at the Bone for a ‘Giant Orchestra’ by composer Stephen Montague which is specifically designed for Southbank Centre’s annual Imagine Children’s Festival. This piece will involve youngsters outside the Young Orchestra for London joining in, too, and will also feature parts for non-instrumental players.

Further information on how to apply for the Young Orchestra for London as well as an online application form can be found here.

Sir Simon Rattle, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker since September 2002, said: I am very excited to be part of this project which brings people together from different social and cultural backgrounds, geographic areas in London and different age groups and ability levels, whilst also connecting the two largest Arts Centres in London. Working together on Young Orchestra for London, the Southbank Centre and Barbican Guidhall are aspiring to something greater than they could achieve on their own, and in turn, that will benefit the young people of London. I’d urge every young instrumentalist in London who fulfil the criteria to apply for this once in a lifetime opportunity, to be part of something greater than the sum of its parts, to represent their part of London in a real Orchestra For London.

 

The London Residency 2015 – concert listings

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker
The London Residency 2015
10 February 2015 / 19:30, Barbican Hall
Sold Out
Sibelius Symphony No 1
Sibelius Symphony No 2
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle conductor

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker
The London Residency 2015
11 February 2015 / 19:30, Barbican Hall
Sold Out
Sibelius Symphony No 3
Sibelius Violin Concerto
Sibelius Symphony No 4
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Leonidas Kavakos violin

Young Orchestra for London / Sir Simon Rattle
12 February 2015 / 18:30, Barbican Hall
Tickets: Free admission, booking required.

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker
The London Residency 2015
12 February 2015 / 19:30, Barbican Hall
Sold Out
Sibelius Symphony No 5
Sibelius Symphony No 6
Sibelius Symphony No 7
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle conductor

Philharmonic Octet Berlin
The London Residency 2015
Friday 13 February 2015 / 19:30, Queen Elizabeth Hall
Tickets: £12-45
Nielsen Serenata in vano for clarinet, horn, bassoon, cello & double bass
Berwald Septet in B flat
Schubert Octet
Philharmonic Octet Berlin

Around the world with the 12 cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker
The London Residency 2015
Sunday 15 February 2015 / 12:00, Royal Festival Hall
Tickets: £14
Henry Purcell Suite from Abdelazer and The Fairy Queen arr. Brett Dean
Dmitry Shostakovich Waltz No.2 from Suite for Variety Stage Orchestra
Robert Schumann Winterzeit II from Album für die Jugend, Op.68
12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker
Sarah Willis narrator
This concert is part of Imagine Children’s Festival 2015

Young Orchestra for London / Sir Simon Rattle
15 February 2015 / 15:00, Clore Ballroom
Tickets: Free admission, booking required.

Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker
The London Residency 2015
14 – 15 February 2015 / 19:30, Royal Festival Hall
Sold Out
Lachenmann Tableau for orchestra
Mahler Symphony No 2 (Resurrection)
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Kate Royal soprano
Magdalena Kožená mezzo-soprano
London Symphony Chorus
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus