New York & South America Tour 2026
International touring may be familiar territory for the Berliner Philharmoniker, but this tour under chief conductor Kirill Petrenko promises to be a very special experience. It begins with three concerts in New York, including a gala with tenor Jonas Kaufmann to open Carnegie Hall’s season. Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson also joins the Berliner Philharmoniker on the tour, which continues from New York to South America. The orchestra has toured South America only once before, in 2000, with Claudio Abbado.
The orchestra’s first visit to Colombia begins at the Teatro Mayor in Bogotá. From there, the tour takes the musicians to São Paulo in Brazil, then on to Argentina for concerts at the legendary Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. The tour programme includes Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra and Elgar’s Enigma Variations. For Kirill Petrenko, these are deeply personal choices: “Each, in its own way, holds a special place in my heart.” The tour also includes education projects, with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker working with youth orchestras and giving masterclasses.
Two Berliners in South America
Percussionist Raphael Haeger and violist Martin Stegner have a special connection to South America. In this interview, they talk about their experiences there and what they are looking forward to on the upcoming tour.
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5 questions for “Also sprach Zarathustra”
On this tour, the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko bring with them perhaps the most famous sunrise in music history: Richard Strauss’s “Also sprach Zarathustra”. But there is far more to the work than its celebrated opening. What is the piece actually about? And who was Zarathustra? Here are the answers to five key questions.
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