Wiener Philharmoniker, Tugan Sokhiev, Hilary Hahn

There is perhaps no other musical ensemble more closely associated with the history and tradition of European classical music than the Vienna Philharmonic. In the course of more than 180 years, this orchestra has experienced and influenced the course of musical history around the world. Even to this day, prominent soloists and conductors refer to the unique "Viennese Sound" as the outstanding quality that sets it apart from other orchestras.

The fascination that the orchestra has held since its foundation by Otto Nicolai in 1842 for prominent composers and conductors, as well as for audiences all over the world, is based upon the conscious maintenance of a homogenous musical style which is carefully bequeathed from one generation to the next, as well as a unique history and organizational structure. The pillars of the 'Philharmonic Idea', which remain valid even today, are a democratic organization that places the entire artistic and organizational decision-making process in the hands of the musicians themselves, and a close symbiosis with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra. Vienna Philharmonic statutes stipulate that only musicians from the opera orchestra can become members of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Another unique feature of this democratic structure is that the orchestra itself is solely responsible for the organization of concerts and the selection of repertoire, as well as the engaging of conductors and soloists. In 1860, the Subscription Concert series was introduced, for which one conductor was engaged for an entire season. These concerts formed a solid artistic and economic basis that remains in place to this day. Beginning in 1933, the orchestra adapted a system of guest conductors, which promotes a wide spectrum of artistic encounters with the most prominent conductors of each generation.

The orchestra's touring activity commenced at the beginning of the 20th century and has since taken the orchestra to all continents on the globe. In recent years, this has included regularly scheduled concerts in Germany, Japan, the USA and China.

In 2018, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Academy was founded. The academy students are selected in accordance with a strict, internationally oriented audition process and trained at the highest level during a two-year course of study.

The Vienna Philharmonic has made it its mission to communicate the humanitarian message of music into the daily lives and consciousness of its listeners. From the beginning, the orchestra has displayed a strong social consciousness, characterized by a commitment to individuals in need and the fostering of young musicians.

The orchestra has been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards. Since 2008, it has been supported by its exclusive sponsor ROLEX.

The Vienna Philharmonic performs approximately 40 concerts in Vienna annually, among them the New Year's Concert and the Summer Night Concert Schönbrunn, which are broadcast in numerous countries around the world. The orchestra also has an annual summer residency at the Salzburg Festival and performs more than 50 concerts a year on its international tours. All of these activities underscore the reputation of the Vienna Philharmonic as one of the world's finest orchestras.

source: Künstleragentur Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm

photo © Julia Wesely

Internationally renowned conductor Tugan Sokhiev divides his time between the symphonic and lyric repertoire, guest conducting the most prestigious orchestras around the world.

Tugan Sokhiev enjoys close and privileged relationships with orchestras such as the Vienna, Berlin and Munich Philharmonic orchestras, the orchestras of the Dresden and Berlin Staatskapelle, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Outside Europe, he is invited to conduct the finest U.S. orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, and spends several weeks each season with the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

In recent seasons Mo. Sokhiev has conducted a new production of Iolanta at the Vienna Staatsoper, given tours with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Asia), the Munich Philharmonic (Asia and Europe), and the Staatskapelle Dresden (Europe), as well as conducting the highly popular Silvesterkonzert der Staatskapelle Dresden and, in June 2025, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s celebrated Sommernachtskonzert at Schönbrunn Palace. He also conducted several highly acclaimed concerts of the Philharmonic Brass, the elite brass ensemble made up of members of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras & Friends.

Tugan Sokhiev begins the 2025/26 season conducting the Vienna Philharmonic once more, with concerts in Vienna, Bratislava, Hamburg and Luxembourg, and rejoins the orchestra in October for their gala concert on the occasion of the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II. Further highlights of the season include concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra both in Berlin and at the Salzburg Festival, where he will also conduct the Berlin Philharmonic’s Be Phil project. He will also make his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra, conduct a new production of Tannhäuser at the Zurich Opera and return to the Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

As Music Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse from 2008 to 2022, Tugan Sokhiev headed numerous successful concert seasons, including several world premieres and a significant number of tours abroad, propelling the orchestra to international prominence. Passionate about his work with singers, from 2014 to 2022 he was Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Tugan Sokhiev’s discography includes many recordings with the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse on Naïve and Warner Classics, winning the Diapason d’Or in 2020. His recordings with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, where he was Principal Conductor from 2012 to 2016, are available on Sony Classical. He collaborated with EuroArts on a series of DVDs with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and also with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, which features many of his concerts on its prestigious Digital Concert Hall.

One of the last students of the legendary teacher Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Tugan Sokhiev is eager to share his expertise with future generations of musicians, leading him in 2016 to found the International Conducting Academy in Toulouse. He also works with the young musicians of the Angelika Prokopp Sommerakademie der Wiener Philharmoniker and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Academy. He is honoured to be a Patron of the Philharmonic Brass Education Program and was extremely proud to collaborate with musicians of the Philharmonic Brass on their first CD.

source: Künstleragentur Dr. Raab & Dr. Böhm

photo © Patrice Nin

Three-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn melds expressive musicality and technical expertise with a diverse repertoire guided by artistic curiosity. Her barrier-breaking attitude towards classical music and commitment to sharing her experiences with a global community have made her a fan favorite. Hahn is a prolific recording artist and commissioner of new works, and her 23 feature recordings have received every critical prize in the international press. Her new role with the Juilliard School follows her earlier tenure as Visiting Artist in Juilliard’s Music Division in the 2023–24 season; recent seasons have also seen her serve as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first-ever Artist-in-Residence, Artist-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic, and Curating Artist of the Dortmund Festival.

Hahn has personally commissioned and championed works by a diverse array of more than 40 living composers, including Steven Banks, Jennifer Higdon, Jessie Montgomery, and Carlos Simon. Her 2021 recording Paris features the world premiere recording of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Deux Sérénades, a piece written for Hahn that she premiered in 2019. Other recent commissions include Michael Abels’s Isolation Variation, Hahn’s recording of which was nominated for a Grammy; Barbara Assiginaak’s Sphynx Moth; Lera Auerbach’s Sonata No. 4: Fractured Dreams; and 6 Partitas by Antón García Abril. García Abril, Auerbach, and Rautavaara were among the 27 composers who contributed to In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores, Hahn’s Grammy Award-winning multi-year commissioning project.

Hahn has related to her fans naturally from the very beginning of her career. She has committed to signings after nearly every concert and maintains and shares a collection of the fan art she has received over the course of 20 years. Her “Bring Your Own Baby” concerts create opportunities for parents of infants to share their enjoyment of live classical music with their children in a nurturing, welcoming environment. Hahn’s commitment to her fans extends to a long history of educational outreach. Her social media-based initiative, #100daysofpractice, has transformed practice into a community-building celebration of artistic development; since Hahn created the hashtag in 2017, fellow performers and students have contributed more than one million posts. A former Suzuki student, she released new recordings of the first three books of the Suzuki Violin School in 2020. In 2019, she released a book of sheet music for In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores, which includes her own fingerings and bowings and performance notes for each work.

Hahn is a prolific and celebrated recording artist whose feature albums on Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, and Sony have all opened in the top ten of the Billboard charts. Recent releases include Night After Night, a collection of James Newton Howard’s scores for the films of M. Night Shyamalan, for which Hahn reprised her contributions to his score for The Village; and a Gramophone Recording of the Year Award-winning recording of Ysaÿe’s six sonatas for solo violin, which saw Hahn celebrate her artistic lineage as a student of Ysaÿe’s former pupil. Three of Hahn’s albums—her 2003 Brahms and Stravinsky concerto disc, a 2008 pairing of Schoenberg and Sibelius concerti, and her 2013 recording of In 27 Pieces: the Hilary Hahn Encores—have been awarded Grammys. Jennifer Higdon’s Violin Concerto, which was composed for Hahn and which she recorded in 2008, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

Hahn is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. In recent seasons, she received the Avery Fisher Prize, was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year for 2023, delivered the keynote speech of the Second Annual Women in Classical Music Symposium, received the 2021 Herbert von Karajan Award, and was awarded the eleventh Annual Glashütte Original Music Festival Award, which she donated to the Philadelphia-based music education nonprofit Project 440. Hahn was the 2022 Chubb Fellow at Yale University’s Timothy Dwight College; she also holds honorary doctorates from Middlebury College—where she spent four summers in the total-immersion German, French, and Japanese language programs—and Ball State University, where there are three scholarships in her name.

source: KD Schmid

photo © Chris Lee