Concert dates
28/02/2025, 19:00
Symphony concert
Felix Mendelssohn: Octet for Strings, op. 20
Gustav Mahler/Arnold Schönberg: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
Ramazan Karolan (baritone)
Location: Hochschule für Musik Saar, Saarbrücken
05/01/2025, 18:00
Opera gala with voice students of the Hochschule für Musik Saar
Arias, Duets and Ensembles by Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and Lehár
Location: Stadthalle Merzig
19/12/2024, 18:00
Chamber music soiree with works by Brahms, Milhaud, Cornelius, Avni and Bach.
Julie Hermer (violin), Anna-Lena Zenner (viola), Aram Amatuni (violoncello), Albani Cordova (clarinet), Michael Müller-Kasztelan (tenor), Stefan Bone (piano)
Location: Saarländische Landesvertretung, Saarbrücken
27/11/2024, 18:00
Song recital to honor Tzvi Avni with works by Tzvi Avni and Paul Ben-Haïm
(in collaboration with Stiftung Demokratie Saarland)
Michael Müller-Kasztelan (tenor), Stefan Bone (piano)
Location: Stiftung Demokratie Saarland, Saarbrücken
22/11/2024, 19:00
Song recital
Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe
Gustav Mahler: Rückert-Lieder
Tzvi Avni: Beside the depths of a river
Michael Müller-Kasztelan (tenor), Stefan Bone (piano)
Location: Museum Schloss Fellenberg, Merzig
20/10/2024, 19:00
Symphony concert
Georg Friedrich Händel: Concerto Grosso op. 6, 7
Théodore Gouvy: Serenade op. 11
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento KV 138
Antonin Dvorak: Nocturne op. 40
Gabriel Fauré: Nocturne
Jean Philippe Rameau: Concert Suite „La Poule“
Location: Kath. Pfarrkirche Heusweiler
13/10/2024, 16:00
Symphony concert
Georg Friedrich Händel: Concerto Grosso op. 6, 7
Théodore Gouvy: Serenade op. 11
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento KV 138
Antonin Dvorak: Nocturne op. 40
Gabriel Fauré: Nocturne
Jean Philippe Rameau: Concert Suite „La Poule“
Location: Collégiale Saint-Etienne-Hombourg-Haut, France
21/06/2024, 19:00
Chamber music soiree
Fête de la Musique
String quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven and Maurice Ravel
Location: Eli.ja-Kirche der Jugend
16/06/2024, 17:00
Choir concert with Kammerchor Encore
Works for choir and orchestra by Gabriel Fauré and Josef Rheinberger
Location: Kirche St. Franziskus, St. Ingbert
15/06/2024, 19:30
Choir concert with Kammerchor Encore
Works for choir and orchestra by Gabriel Fauré and Josef Rheinberger
Location: Kirche St. Franziskus, St. Ingbert
13/05/2024, 18:00
Symphony concert
Felix Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. 3 in E minor
Paul Ben-Haim: Preambolo
Tzvi Avni: De Profundis
Arnold Schönberg: Verklärte Nacht
Location: Synagoge Saarbrücken
01/03/2024, 19:00
Symphony concert „Das Lied von der Erde“
Tzvi Avni: Credo
Gustav Mahler/Arnold Schönberg: Das Lied von der Erde
Amira Elmadfa (mezzosoprano), Michael Müller-Kasztelan (tenor)
Location: Konzertsaal, Hochschule für Musik Saarbrücken
17/12/2023, 15:00
Pre-christmas symphony concert
Marc-Antoine Charpantier: Noël sur les Instruments
Johann Sebastian Bach: 3. Brandenburg Concerto
Jean Sibelius: Andante Festivo
Jean-Philippe Rameau: Entrée de Polymnie
Engelbert Humperdinck: Abendsegen
Location: Alte Pfarrkirche St. Gangolf, Merzig-Besseringen
16/12/2023, 17:00
Pre-christmas symphony concert
Marc-Antoine Charpantier: Noël sur les Instruments
Johann Sebastian Bach: 3. Brandenburgisches Konzert
Jean Sibelius: Andante Festivo
Jean-Philippe Rameau: Entrée de Polymnie
Engelbert Humperdinck: Abendsegen
Location: Rechtsschutzsaal Friedrichsthal
08/10/2023, 18:00
Symphony concert
Béla Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento KV 137
Peteris Vasks: Viatore
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento KV 138
Antonin Dvorak: Serenade for Strings
Location: Festhalle Zweibrücken
24/08/2023, 19:00
Concert gala
Bela Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances
Joseph Haydn: Violin Concerto in C major
Henryk Wieniawski: Légende
Edvard Grieg: Aus Holbergs Zeit
Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in D minor
Location: Großer Sendesaal, Saarländischer Rundfunk
02/07/2023, 17:00
Chamber music soiree of the Ensemble Notambules with piano quintets by Robert Schumann and Jean Cras
Location: Rathaus-Festsaal, Heusweiler
21/06/2023, 19:00
Open-air concert
Jacques Offenbach: Overture „Orpheus in der Unterwelt“
Arthur Honegger: Pastorale d’été
Giacomo Puccini: Mi chiamano Mimi (from La Bohème)
Claude Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d`un Faune
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento KV 137
Georges Bizet: Souvenirs d`été
Sen Açar (Sopran)
Location: Innenhof Stadtgalerie, St. Johannes Markt Saarbrücken
16/04/2023, 11:00
Symphony concert
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento KV 138
Henri Purcell/Benjamin Britten: Chaconne in g
Edvard Grieg: 2 Melodien op. 53
Tzvi Avni: Prayer
Ottorino Respighi: Danze ed Arie antiche – Suite Nr. 3
Location: Historic departement store, Freiburg
Formats
The diversity and pluralism of the KOG’s musicians are a mirror image of the range of its formats as well. In this way, tailor-made ensembles are created for every theme and occasion at an artistically high level.
Chamber concerts
The KOG is guided by the idea of being an international network for young musicians. Chamber music projects beyond the country’s borders are thus central to our activities. In collaboration with local organisers of cultural events, we support our members in organising chamber concerts in a wide variety of formations and create the institutional framework for our own chamber music series.
Symphony concerts
The KOG’s primary symphonic focus is on the classical works of the chamber orchestra repertoire from the Baroque period to the 21st century. Symphonies from the Classical and early Romantic periods also find their place here, as does the string orchestra repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries and the music of the Fin de Siècle.
Family concerts
The KOG’s family concerts offer children, young people and families the opportunity to participate in culture and music with innovative concert programmes and a focus on their communication. The concerts take place both in public spaces and in schools and focus on one or more works from the history of music.
Association
Founded in 2021 as a pan-European, symphonic chamber orchestra, the KOG is composed of young professional musicians from the greater European region who have set themselves the goal of contributing to the revival of musical culture here at the heart of Europe. Consisting of a flexible core of 40 members, we perform the classical and early romantic symphonic repertoire as well as the string and chamber orchestra repertoire from the baroque to the contemporary in five to six work cycles per year.
Consisting of professional musicians and selected top music students from the greater region, the KOG works with various cultural institutions and event organisers in the German-French border region, Luxembourg, Belgium and German-speaking Switzerland.
The KOG’s concertmaster is Maximilian Lohse, first concertmaster of the Flemish Opera House Antwerp/Ghent, while artistic responsibility lies with Stefan Bone, Kapellmeister at the Kiel Opera House.
Orchestral work is at the heart of our undertaking and is complemented by accompanying projects. For instance by organising master classes and audition training courses for the upcoming generation of professional musicians.
Another field of activity is the promotion of chamber music in a wide variety of formations, for which the chamber orchestra provides the institutional framework. The orchestra is registered as a non-profit association in Merzig.
The people
President
Artistic Director
Concertmaster
Our Goals
Live Europe
The dream of European unification, peace and international understanding was already an inspiration for Ludwig van Beethoven. In 2020, the 250th anniversary of his birth. For a young generation of Europeans, the time of borders and barriers was long gone – until the corona pandemic painfully reminded us that open borders in Europe cannot be taken for granted. The KOG sees itself as part of a European community of citizens working to deepen European integration on the ground. To offer young musicians – regardless of their origin – the opportunity to participate in shaping the cultural landscape of our internationally shaped home region as part of a whole, fills us with joy and distinguishes us from comparable, regionally active ensembles.
An orchestra for the greater region
Big things always come from small things – we have adopted this slogan of the Saarland in many ways. First and foremost, we’ve chosen Merzig, the city at the border triangle of Germany, France and Luxembourg as the KOG’s home.
Providing rural areas with art and culture, intensifying networks in the local scene and ensuring concert experiences beyond the “QuattroPole” region pose challenges for culture providers. As a chamber orchestra, we would like to respond to this challenge and create an offer that is open to all citizens, including those rooted in rural areas:
live classical music in its immediacy as a natural part of social and cultural life.
Venturing a post-pandemic awakening
Transitioning from study to work is a challenge in any profession. It’s a special one in the music profession as well.
Particularly in recent years, the main focus of professional activity for many has shifted away from lifelong permanent positions in opera or radio orchestras and towards broad-based freelance work. This concept of freedom might well lead to diverging responses. However, the pandemic has shown: if concerts and performance opportunities disappear, this freedom sometimes becomes even more difficult to define and shape.
Against this background, it’s no coincidence that the KOG was founded during this period. We want to live a vision in which the cultural sector turns back to its nucleus, society, opens up to it and creates offerings that promote deeper integration.
As an ensemble of professional musicians and top students, we’d like to set an example: that a situation can be improved by means of energy and creative will, and that we can unite people from differing geographical origins – and musical as well – in order to bring the music that comes from our hearts into the world together.
Our Friends
Supporter
The work of the Chamber Orchestra of the Greater Region is supported in particular by:
– Saarländisches Ministerium für Bildung und Kultur
– Saarländische Staatskanzlei
– Saarland Sporttoto GmbH
– Sparkasse Merzig-Wadern
– Rotary Club Merzig-Saarlouis
– Pro Musica Viva – Maria Strecker-Daelen Stiftung
– Arbeit + Kultur Saarland gGmbH
– Stiftung ME Saar
– Peter und Luise Hager Stiftung
– Berthold Leibinger Stiftung
– Union Stiftung
– David Ben Gurion Stiftung in Deutschland
– Rudolf Augstein Stiftung
– Alfred Töpfer Stiftung
– Europäische Stiftung für Bildung und Kultur
– Heinrich Böll-Saar Stiftung
– Hotel Meran
Furthermore, we are supported in logistical work on the ground thanks to:
– Kulturzentrum Villa Fuchs
– Hochschule für Musik Saar
– Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Alt-Saarbrücken
– Hotel Linslerhof
– eli.ja Kiche der Jugend Saarbrücken
Circle of friends
Special thanks for the organisational and financial support of our association:
– the married couple Brigitte und Wendelin von Boch
– the married couple Daniele Range-Ditz and Dr Walter Ditz
– the married couple Angelika Zechbauer-Gillmeister and Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Gillmeister
– he married couple Malvina and Thies Knauf