Hamburg – September 08, 2026 -- The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra opens its 2026/27 season on September 4, marking ten years as the resident ensemble of Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie concert hall. Since the venue opened, the orchestra has performed 654 concerts in its Great Hall, serving as the house's musical core and global ambassador.
Chief conductor calls the orchestra 'the luckiest in the world'
Chief conductor Alan Gilbert credits the hall's flexibility for shaping the ensemble's decade-long identity. "We at the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra might be the luckiest orchestra in the world having the Elbphilharmonie as our home," Gilbert said, adding that the space works equally well for full orchestral forces and solo instruments.
Over the past ten years, Gilbert and the orchestra staged large-scale projects including spatial productions of "Le Grand Macabre," "Porgy and Bess" and Strauss's "Elektra," alongside works exploiting the hall's surround architecture, such as Lindberg's Kraft and Salonen's Wing on Wing. They also founded the festival Elbphilharmonie Visions.
Mahler's Sixth opens the new season alongside a farewell for the orchestra's timpanist
Gilbert launches the season with Mahler's Symphony No. 6, paired with a timpani concerto by James Oliverio. The concert also begins the farewell season of NDR solo timpanist Stephan Cürlis. Season highlights include Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex" performed alongside the ballet "Le Sacre du printemps" at the International Music Festival Hamburg, with a guest performance in Paris. The season closes with Beethoven's Violin Concerto and John Adams's "Absolute Jest," while the anniversary concerts feature Adams's Harmonielehre.
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes returns as artist in residence for a Missy Mazzoli premiere
Leif Ove Andsnes, a longtime artistic partner of the orchestra, serves as artist in residence for 2026/27, performing solo concertos, chamber music and new works, including the world premiere of a new piano concerto by Missy Mazzoli. The American composer and pianist becomes the first to hold the newly created title of NDR Artist Across Ensembles, linking the Elbphilharmonie Orchestra with the NDR Radiophilharmonie, NDR Vokalensemble and NDR Bigband.
Elbphilharmonie Visions festival invites a visual artist for the first time
The Elbphilharmonie Visions festival, curated largely by ARD ensembles, features Swiss artist Zimoun, born in 1977, marking the first time a non-musician has been invited to the festival. NDR orchestra, choir and concerts director Dominik Deuber said the collaboration explores what happens when a visual artist is asked to reimagine the orchestra as a sound body, with works planned for both the Small and Great Halls.
The orchestra tours Northern Germany, Europe and Asia through the season
In Northern Germany, the ensemble appears at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Usedomer Musikfestival. It performs next week at the Berliner Festspiele, later touring to Vienna, Budapest and Paris. With Japanese pianist Hayato Suminyo, the orchestra also performs in Japan and Taiwan.