About
The Bremer Philharmoniker are the official orchestra of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. In addition to staging the music theater in the Bremen Theater, they organize 28 philharmonic concerts, various special, benefit and chamber concerts as well as many projects in the field of music education each season. Christian Kötter-Lixfeld is the artistic director of the Bremen Philharmonic, and Marko Letonja has been the general music director since the 2018/2019 season.
In 1820 the cathedral organist Wilhelm Friedrich Riem founded the Bremen Concert Orchestra. He was the conductor of this orchestra until his death (1857). He was followed by Carl Martin Reinthaler as conductor. The orchestra was looked after by the Bremischer Musikfreunde association founded in 1863.
In 1825 the Society for Private Concerts - Philharmonic Society since 1895 - was founded. She organized a philharmonic choir and a concert orchestra, as one of the first civic orchestras. The city of Bremen granted grants to the orchestra, which was later called the Philharmonic Orchestra.
Johannes Brahms made his debut as a pianist in 1855. It was his first public appearance with an orchestra. Thirteen years later, the German Requiem was premiered under his direction in Bremen. The Bremen Philharmonic still feels a special bond with Johannes Brahms today: his compositions are among the most frequently performed in the repertoire.
The inflation that set in as a result of the First World War made it impossible in the early 1920s to keep the Philharmonic Orchestra, which had been hired on a private basis, in this form. It was therefore taken over by Bremen as the city orchestra. The Philharmonic Society borrowed the musicians for their concerts. In 1933 it was renamed the State Orchestra. After the Second World War, the orchestra was renamed the Bremen Philharmonic State Orchestra.
In 2002 the conversion into the legal form of a GmbH took place; the Bremer Philharmoniker GmbH was created. The shareholders are the orchestral musicians, organized in the Bremer Philharmoniker e.V. (26%), the city of Bremen (52%) and the Bremen Theater (22%).
The general music director and the artistic director are in charge of the society. The number of musicians is around 82 (as of 2017). A state subsidy of around 4 million euros (as of 2009) is still granted. A supervisory body chaired by the Senator for Culture balances the various interests.