Kirill Petrenko conducts the Karajan Academy

They also take part in the orchestra's rehearsals and concerts, giving them the opportunity to learn from top musicians and gain concert practice. In addition, the Karajan Academy organises its own concert series in which the scholarship holders perform music from the Baroque to the avant-garde under the direction of renowned conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle, Reinhard Goebel, Susanna Mälkki and Matthias Pintscher. The joint performance with the orchestra's respective artist in residence and the monthly carte blanche concerts, in which the scholarship holders present themselves as soloists or in ensembles, are also part of the academy's training programme. The aim of the programme is to train young orchestral musicians who will find employment either with the Berliner Philharmoniker or with other top orchestras. Around a third of today's Berliner Philharmoniker have emerged from the Karajan Academy.

He has also made guest appearances at the world’s leading opera houses, including Wiener Staatsoper, Covent Garden in London, the Opéra national in Paris, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Bayreuth Festival. Moreover, he has conducted the major international symphony orchestras – in Vienna, Munich, Dresden, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Rome, Chicago, Cleveland and Israel. Since his debut in 2006, a variety of programmatic themes have emerged in his work together with the Berliner Philharmoniker. These include work on the orchestra’s core Classical-Romantic repertoire, most notably with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony when he took up his post. Unjustly forgotten composers such as Josef Suk or Karl Amadeus Hartmann are another of Kirill Petrenko’s interests. Russian works are also highlighted, with performances of Tchaikovsky’s operas Die Frau ohne Schatten and Elektra attracting particular attention recently.