Neuhardenberg Proms
Second Edition
Classical does not necessarily have to mean highbrow – which was quite a new concept when the BBC's programme-makers decided to broadcast a summer season of 'promenade concerts', now simply known as The Proms, in the hope of capturing an audience that was not usually interested in classical music. The tickets for standing places at these concerts, primarily at London's Royal Albert Hall, were available at an affordable price, and their owners soon became known as 'Prommers', whilst 'Promming' became synonymous with an exceptionally informal concert atmosphere. The final concert of the season, the internationally popular Last Night of the Proms, is always televised live, and it is a rather riotous celebration of the music. Granted, there are some rules regarding the programme content, but the cheerful audience members are encouraged to let their hair down, valiantly sing along, wear bold outfits and even bring noisy accessories.
After the first successful edition in 2026, the Second Edition of the Neuhardenberg Proms again hopes to recreate this atmosphere, all the way to the marching beat of a traditional pipe band. On the large stage behind the castle, the Moritzburg Festival Orchestra will produce an even mightier soundscape thanks to a larger ensemble, with soloists adding virtuoso accents. The concert event will be hosted by the actor, singer and entertainer Max Hopp.
Orchestra, conductors and soloists
Ever since 2006, the Moritzburg Festival Orchestra has been formed every year and consists of participants of the Moritzburg Festival Academy, for which talented young musicians from all over the world are selected via an international invitation to apply. The Moritzburg Festival Orchestra is created in the course of an intensive workshop under the artistic direction of the violinist Mira Wang. In 2027, the ensemble will be developing a dedicated programme especially for the Neuhardenberg Proms – Second Edition. Led by the Spanish master conductor Josep Caballé Domenech, the young musicians will be given the opportunity to present the results of their work to the audience with the help of their well-known soloist supporters.
Josep Caballé Domenech, who hails from Catalonia, has been the chief conductor of the Moritzburg Festival Orchestra since 2019. His appointments include conductor laureate of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra, a chief guest conductorship with the Norrköping Symphony, and musical director and chief conductor of Staatskapelle Halle as well as the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá. He has an extensive concert and opera repertoire, and has worked with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, the BBC Philharmonic, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, various German radio orchestras and the Bamberg Symphony, as well as all leading Spanish orchestras.
Stefan Dohr is a celebrated soloist, chamber musician and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's solo hornist, and a firmly established member of the international French horn player community. In an orchestra, the hornist is, on the one hand, a 'quasi-intermediary between the instrument groups, but on the other a soloist', as Dohr himself puts it. Besides his work as an orchestra musician, he plays concerts with numerous chamber music ensembles, including the Ensemble Modern and the Ensemble Wien-Berlin, as well as the Albert Schweitzer Octet. Stefan Dohr has repeatedly been able to premiere horn concerts written specifically for him.
Jan Vogler is one of the great classical music stars of our times. His breathtaking career has led him many times around the globe. He is in intense dialogue with contemporary composers and artists, as proven by the many premieres of works that were in part written exclusively for him. Jan Vogler has a close relationship with Neuhardenberg, thanks to his annual cello workshop as well as regular concert performances, and also his position on the foundation's Board of Trustees.
The violinist Mira Wang, who was born in China, is the director of the Moritzburg Festival Academy. She has guested with numerous orchestras in the USA, Europe and Asia, such as, for example, the Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she has performed at many international festivals. Mira Wang has been the artistic director of the exclusive series of chamber music events Modelroom Musicales at the New York Yacht Club since 2005.
Max Hopp has performed at the Theater Bremen, at the Schauspielhaus Hamburg and the Schauspielhaus Zurich, at the Münchner Kammerspiele and has also been a member of the Berliner Volksbühne ensemble. In 2010, Max Hopp joined the cast of the Komische Oper Berlin for the first time, playing the respective lead roles in celebrated productions by Barrie Kosky such as Fiddler on the Roof, Orpheus in the Underworld and Eine Frau, die weiß, was sie will. He has also staged The Bandits there, and most recently The Captain of Köpenick for the Berliner Ensemble. Max Hopp also appears in films and on television. He is a co-founder of the nootheater in Berlin, and artists' collective that not only stages plays and audio dramas, but has also already produced and released two films.
