Utopia Orchestra

Utopia is an international festival ensemble made up of an orchestra and a choir, founded by Teodor Currentzis with the aim of bringing together outstanding instrumentalists and singers from around the world. Utopia is structurally, financially and organizationally independent of any other collectives and institutions. It is less an orchestra and a choir in the usual sense of the word than a special creative collective of people with a shared musical ideology. Together they translate their musical visions into sound, without compromise, and working to the highest standard. Instrumentalists and singers from numerous countries participate in the project.

Utopia’s first concerts took place in October 2022, when the orchestra presented works by Stravinsky and Ravel in the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Berlin Philharmonie. The Utopia Orchestra’s concert projects since have taken the ensemble to venues including the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, the Megaron Athens Concert Hall, the Isarphilharmonie in Munich and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.

In 2023 Utopia performed Mahler’s Third Symphony and a programme consisting of Brahms’s Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, and made its debut at the Salzburg Festival with Purcell’s The Indian Queen and Mozart’s Mass in C minor. To perform these works Teodor Currentzis assembled the Utopia Choir, consisting of 40 singers from 14 countries, all members of leading opera choruses and vocal ensembles.

In 2024, Utopia returns to the Salzburg Festival to perform Bach’s St Matthew Passion and to appear in Romeo Castellucci’s production of Don Giovanni, and also presents its interpretations of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony and Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in renowned European concert halls. At the start of 2025 the Utopia Choir & Orchestra  will appear in Peter Sellars’s production of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux under the baton of Teodor Currentzis at the Paris Opéra. Soon after, the orchestra will perform Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto with Alexandre Kantorow as soloist.