Carnegie Hall

One of the most revered artists of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, R. Schumann, and Beethoven, as well as for being a devotee of the piano music of Berg, Schoenberg, Webern, and György Kurtág. She is Musical America’s 2022 Artist of the Year, and a Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist across the 2022–2023, 2023–2024, and 2024–2025 seasons. Her latest recording—Beethoven: Diabelli Variations—was nominated for a Grammy Award and won the 2022 Gramophone Piano Award.

Ms. Uchida has enjoyed close relationships over many years with the world’s most renowned orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and—in the US—the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra, with which she recently celebrated her 100th performance at Severance Hall. Conductors with whom she has worked closely have included Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, and Mariss Jansons.

Since 2016, Ms. Uchida has been an artistic partner of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with which she is currently engaged on a multi-season touring project in Europe, Japan, and North America. She also appears regularly in recital in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, New York, and Tokyo, and is a frequent guest at the Salzburg Mozart Week and Festival.

Ms. Uchida records exclusively for Decca Records, and her multi–award-winning discography includes the complete Mozart and Schubert piano sonatas. She is the recipient of two Grammy Awards.

A founding member of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and director of the Marlboro Music Festival, Ms. Uchida is a recipient of the Golden Mozart Medal from the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association. She has also been awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Wigmore Medal, and she holds honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In 2009, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

José Maria Blumenschein, a native of Freiburg, Germany, born of Brazilian parents, currently serves as first concertmaster of the WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra in Cologne after serving as associate concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra for three seasons. During his tenure with WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra, he also took two seasons off to perform as first concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera and Vienna Philharmonic.

A passionate leader, Mr. Blumenschein regularly performs with many orchestras and ensembles that include the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian State Opera, Staatskapelle Dresden, NDR Radiophilharmonie, and many more.

Mr. Blumenschein is also a founding member of KammerMusikKöln, the first all-year chamber music series in Cologne founded by members of WDR Radio, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, and Cologne Conservatory.

Born in 1985, Mr. Blumenschein received his first violin lesson at the age of four in Freiburg, Germany, at the Pflüger Institute for Highly Gifted Children. In 1990, he began studies with Vera Kramarowa in Mannheim. In 2001, Mr. Blumenschein was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with conductor and violinist Joseph Silverstein and served as concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.

With the 2022–2023 season, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) celebrates its 25th birthday.

The MCO was founded in 1997 based on the shared vision of being a free and international ensemble, dedicated to creating and sharing exceptional experiences in classical music. With 45 members spanning 20 different countries at its core, the MCO works as a nomadic collective, uniting for specific tours in Europe and across the world. It is governed collectively by its management team and orchestra board.

The orchestra received its most significant artistic impulses from its founding mentor, Claudio Abbado, and from Conductor Laureate Daniel Harding. It works closely with a network of artistic partners who inspire and shape the orchestra in long-term collaborations. Current MCO artistic partners include pianist Mitsuko Uchida and violinist Pekka Kuusisto. The MCO’s longstanding collaboration with Artistic Advisor Daniele Gatti focuses on larger symphonic works. With its Artistic Partner for Immersive Experiences Henrik Oppermann, the MCO focuses on digital technology by creating performances in virtual reality.

In the field of education and outreach, the MCO’s three flagship projects include the MCO Academy, where MCO members share their passion and expertise with the next generation of orchestral musicians in collaboration with Orchesterzentrum | NRW; Unboxing Mozart, inviting audiences into the heart of the orchestra using unique sound boxes; and Feel the Music, which opens the world of music to deaf and hard of hearing children, encouraging a whole-body sensory experience.

The 25th season kicked off with the finale of the Mozart Momentum 1785/1786 project, with Leif Ove Andsnes taking the stage at the BBC Proms. Traveling extensively through Europe and the US, the MCO reunites with Mitsuko Uchida. Innovation through exploring new concert formats and rethinking tradition will be a focal point in the orchestra’s meeting with Pekka Kuusisto, resulting in an event at the Radialsystem in Berlin where the audience can experience the orchestra both live and in virtual reality. The orchestra returns to the Festival of Aix-en-Provence in July for the creation of George Benjamin’s newest opera, Picture a Day like this. Before that, the orchestra embarks on a tour across some of the most prestigious venues in Europe with Andris Nelsons, Lang Lang, and Christiane Karg. A new horizon appears in the 2024 season, when the MCO becomes artistic director of the Musikwoche Hitzacker for a period of five years.

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra’s anniversary season is generously supported by the MCO Foundation and the American Friends of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.