The Berliner Philharmoniker, founded in 1882 as an independent orchestra, has long been one of the world’s most important musical ensembles.
During the early years, Hans von Bülow, Arthur Nikisch and Wilhelm Furtwängler were its influential chief conductors, followed in 1955 by Herbert von Karajan. He worked with the orchestra over the ensuing decades to create a unique sound aesthetic and playing culture, which made the Berliner Philharmoniker world famous. In 1967 Herbert von Karajan founded the Easter Festival of the Berliner Philharmoniker in Salzburg. Since 2013 it has been held in Baden-Baden.
From 1989 to 2002, principal conductor Claudio Abbado explored new musical directions with the orchestra, through contemporary music, a chamber music series and concert performances of operatic works. He was succeeded by Simon Rattle, who directed the orchestra from 2002 to 2018, expanding the repertory and establishing innovative concert formats.
The Digital Concert Hall was launched in 2009, an advanced video platform through which the concerts of the Berliner Philharmoniker are broadcast live and offered as recordings in a video archive. In 2014 the Berliner Philharmoniker also founded its own label: Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings.
Kirill Petrenko has been chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2019. The Classical-Romantic repertory, Russian music and composers who have been unjustly forgotten are the programmatic priorities of his tenure. Another important focus for Kirill Petrenko is the Berliner Philharmoniker’s education programme, which is aimed at new target audiences and other groups. Since 2021 the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko are ambassadors for the UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe: the German partner of the UN Refugee Agency.
From 2026 onwards the Berliner Philharmoniker will again be holding their traditional Easter Festival in Salzburg.
The Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation enjoys the generous support of the State of Berlin, the Federal Government, and its principal sponsor, Deutsche Bank.
