Series Q Berliner Philharmoniker Ensembles

Concerts Prices & seating plan

Series Q

Included: six concerts
Prices: 96 to 162 €

In March 2027, the 200th anniversary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven will be marked. On this occasion, the chamber music ensembles of the Berliner Philharmoniker have put together programs that make the composer’s influence on his successors tangible. Naturally, the genre central to Beethoven — the string quartet — cannot be absent. In the first concert of the series, the notorious Große Fuge is paired with Mendelssohn’s Second String Quartet. While many contemporaries considered Beethoven’s late works completely incomprehensible, Mendelssohn was already inspired by them as a teenager.

The Philharmonic String Quartet juxtaposes one of the most beautiful works from Beethoven’s middle period with compositions by Schubert and Brahms. For both composers, the perfection of their admired model was also a burden. Brahms is said to have destroyed more than 20 of his own string quartets before publishing his Opus 51. Béla Bartók admired Beethoven as an inventor of new musical forms. His Trio Kontraste, dedicated to jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, will be performed in May before Beethoven’s famous Septet for strings and winds. A discovery, on the other hand, is the Octet, written during Beethoven’s youth in Bonn. In this work, woodwinds and brass remain among themselves, just as in the subsequent pieces by Gustav Schreck and George Enescu. In December, the Philharmonic brass players usher in the Christmas season with festive music. A special accent in the series is provided by the ensemble Bolero Berlin, which has won a loyal fan base with jazz sounds and Latin American rhythms.

The series is complemented by two additional concerts available to subscribers at a special price. In both cases, legendary soloists are guests who have been associated with the Berliner Philharmoniker for decades. The violinist Pinchas Zukerman performs with members of the orchestra, and the 12 Cellists welcome Yo‑Yo Ma as a special guest in their midst. Subscribers to Series Q receive a 15% discount on the single‑ticket price.
Available only by phone or at the box office.

Concerts

Mon 28 September 2026, 20:00 Chamber Music Hall

Berliner Philharmoniker Ensembles

Noah Bendix-Balgley violin
Hande Küden violin
Diyang Mei viola
Knut Weber cello

Works by
Ludwig van Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn

Ludwig van Beethoven
Serenade for String Trio in D major, op. 8

Ludwig van Beethoven
Duet with two Obbligato Eyeglasses in E flat major, WoO 32

Ludwig van Beethoven
Große Fuge for String Quartet in B flat major, op. 133

Interval

Felix Mendelssohn
String Quartet in A minor, op. 13

A group of 12 musicians in formal black attire stand in a hall holding brass instruments, including trombones, trumpets, a tuba and French horns, in front of a colourful polka dot wall in the background.

Wed 16 December 2026, 20:00 Chamber Music Hall

At the invitation of the Berliner Philharmoniker

Berliner Philharmoniker Ensembles

Blechbläserensemble der Berliner Philharmoniker:
Guillaume Jehl trumpet
Tamás Velenczei trumpet
Sarah Willis french horn
Olaf Ott trombone
Jesper Busk Sørensen trombone
Stefan Stefan trombone
Alexander von Puttkamer tuba
David Guerrier trumpet
Bertold Stecher trumpet
Jonathon Robert Ramsay trombone

Works by
Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven, Oskar Böhme, Giovanni Gabrieli, Hans Werner Henze, Joseph Haydn and Engelbert Humperdinck

Franz Schubert
Marche Militaire, D 733 No. 1 (arr. for brass ensemble by David Guerrier)

Ludwig van Beethoven
March for Military Band No. 2, WoO 19 (arr. for brass ensemble by Jonathon Ramsay)

Oskar Böhme
Trumpet Sextet in E flat minor, op. 30

Ludwig van Beethoven
Trio for two oboes and cor anglais in C major, op. 87

Ludwig van Beethoven
March for Military Band in D major, WoO 24 (arr. for brass ensemble by Jonathon Ramsay)

Interval

Giovanni Gabrieli
Canzon XV

Hans Werner Henze
Sonata per otto ottoni

Joseph Haydn
The Creation: The great work is complete (arr. for brass)

Ludwig van Beethoven
3 Equali for 4 Trombones, WoO 30

Engelbert Humperdinck
Hansel und Gretel: Suite (arr. for brass ensemble)

Werke aus »Frohe Weihnachten!«:

An Australian Christmas (arr. for brass ensemble)

Wed 06 January 2027, 20:00 Chamber Music Hall

Berliner Philharmoniker Ensembles

Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson flute
Egor Egorkin flute
Jonathan Kelly oboe
Dominik Wollenweber oboe
Alexander Bader clarinet
Matic Kuder clarinet
Stefan Schweigert bassoon
Václav Vonášek bassoon
Paula Ernesaks french horn
Andrej Žust french horn

Works by
Ludwig van Beethoven, Gustav Schreck and George Enescu

Ludwig van Beethoven
Octet in E flat major, op. 103

Gustav Schreck
Nonet, op. 40

Interval

George Enescu
Dectet for Winds, op. 14

Four classical musicians, three holding violins and one holding a cello, stand together smiling against a plain light background. They are dressed formally in black and white attire.

Wed 10 February 2027, 20:00 Chamber Music Hall

Berliner Philharmoniker Ensembles

Philharmonisches Streichquartett:
Dorian Xhoxhi violin
Helena Madoka Berg violin
Christoph Heesch cello

Takehiro Konoe viola

Works by
Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet in F major, op. 59 No. 1 “Razumovsky”

Interval

Franz Schubert
String Quartet Movement in C minor, D 103 (Fragment)

Johannes Brahms
String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, op. 51 No. 1

Six men in black suits stand indoors by large windows with diagonal beams. One holds a guitar, another a violin, and one a saxophone; the others stand and smile, posing as a band.

Tue 13 April 2027, 20:00 Chamber Music Hall

Berliner Philharmoniker Ensembles

Bolero Berlin:
Martin Stegner viola
Esko Laine double bass
Manfred Preis clarinet and saxophone
Manfred Preis saxophone
Paulo Morello guitar
Raphael Haeger piano
Rolo Rodriguez percussion

Members of the Berliner Philharmoniker

Works by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Django Reinhardt, Paulo Morello, Kurt Weill, Maurice Ravel and other composers

Wed 19 May 2027, 20:00 Chamber Music Hall

Berliner Philharmoniker Ensembles

Harry Ward violin
Julia Gartemann viola
Solène Kermarrec cello
Piotr Zimnik double bass
Andraž Golob clarinet
Václav Vonášek bassoon
Johannes Lamotke french horn
Noora Ylönen piano

Works by
Ludwig van Beethoven and Béla Bartók

Ludwig van Beethoven
Trio in B flat major, op. 11 “Gassenhauer”

Béla Bartók
Contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano, Sz 111

Interval

Ludwig van Beethoven
Septet in E flat major, op. 20