Exception, talent, Wunderkind. These are the first associations when the Finn Klaus Mäkelä (*1996) is described. For hardly any musical profession in the classical music scene is more associated with maturity than that of a conductor. Therefore, Mäkelä’s appearance on the stages of this world turns many things upside down. Young, thoughtful, lively and with an impressive presence, the conductor has dedicated himself to music. At the age of less than 30, he has reached the top of several renowned orchestras: chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, music director of the Orchestre de Paris and future chief conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra. Although he will not assume this post until 2027, he is already familiarising himself with the musicians as Artistic Partner. He can also be heard as a guest conductor with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony and New York Philharmonic.
The large footprints of his predecessors – von Karajan, Sir Solti, Barenboim, Järvi and Harding, to name but a few – do not seem to frighten him in any way. Rather, he wants to explore his own experiences and feelings through the music and, equally, to allow the audience to do the same. So Klaus Mäkelä is a conductor who is sure to make a big impact in the future!

Child prodigy, virtuoso pianist, Daniel Barenboim (born in 1942) shines on five continents as a conductor and pianist. An excellent teacher and exceptional conductor, Daniel Barenboim has left his mark on the world of classical music since the 1970s. In 1999, his major project of reuniting Israeli and Palestinian musicians, the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, was born. Series of works by Beethoven collected under the title Beethoven for All, then Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. In 2014, the conductor with triple Argentinian, Israeli and Palestinian nationality conducts the New Year’s Concert in Vienna for the second time. Daniel Barenboim has been at the helm of the Berlin Orchestra since 1992 and his contract is extended until 2027.

The violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is without doubt one of the most internationally renowned German classical music stars of our time. In her more than 40 years of concert activity, her program has regularly included not only the classical repertoire but also highly acclaimed world premieres and film scores. In addition to her own stage career, which has taken her to all the major renowned stages over the years, Mutter is also committed to promoting young musical talent through her own foundations.
The violinist has received numerous international awards for her outstanding musical and social commitment and her cultural achievements, including four Grammy Awards as well as the Mendelssohn Prize, the Great Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Bavarian Order of Merit, the Great Austrian Medal of Honor, and the French Order of the Legion of Honor.
Like all artists, Anne-Sophie Mutter has been affected by the pandemic-related break in performance. In order to draw attention to the disastrous situation in the music business, Mutter, together with some of her scholarship recipients, performed sporadically at church services and solicited donations for the emergency relief fund of the German Orchestra Foundation.