Kammerakademie Potsdam
The Kammerakademie Potsdam will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in the 2021/22 season. Over the past two decades, and with its home in the Nikolaisaal, Brandenburg capital city’s orchestra has earned a reputation far beyond the borders of Potsdam. Electrifying musical performances are the trademark of this dynamic body of sound, whose tremendous passion and curiosity have left hardly any nook or cranny of the classical repertoire unexplored. Countless series of concerts aimed at all age ranges in Potsdam and Brandenburg, guest performances throughout Europe, award-winning CD recordings and – founded in 2018 – Brandenburg’s first orchestra academy all bear witness to the orchestra’s success and innovative spirit. Since the 2010/11 season, Antonello Manacorda has been the principal conductor and artistic director.
In its anniversary season, the orchestra is looking forward to working with acclaimed soprano Anna Prohaska, who will be artist in residence. The orchestra will also be welcoming several internationally renowned soloists, including Igor Levit, Isabelle Faust, Thomas Hampson, Jan Lisiecki and Michael Wollny. On the podium will be successful conductors such as Christian Jost, Anja Bihlmaier and Joshua Weilerstein. As a cultural ambassador for Potsdam and Brandenburg, the Kammerakademie will also be performing in major concert halls and at well-known festivals, including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and the Boulez Saal Berlin.
A highlight of the city’s 2021 event calendar, the Potsdam Winter Opera, will be returning to the Schlosstheater at the New Palace. Isabel Ostermann will be directing Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera “The Rape of Lucretia”, conducted by the much-in-demand British maestro Douglas Boyd.
In order to open up paths to music for just about everyone, the orchestra will be offering a wide range of formats – from interactive family concerts and the KiKoKAP video series to participatory activities for day care centres. With its model project “Music Creates Perspectives”, which received the 2017 special award “Culture Opens Worlds” of the German Ministry of Culture and Media, the Kammerakademie is striving in a sustainable way to anchor cultural education, participation and equal opportunities in the Potsdam-Drewitz area.
As of June 2021