ABOUT
"What is most captivating is the expressiveness of her playing and her impressive presence, which makes her the self-evident center of the action; she lives "her" music. "Her" is intentionally chosen because she makes the music entirely her own. She never delivers, but brings to life. Stylistically she is absolutely confident; her personal cadenza in the Mozart concerto and her sovereign conducting from the piano clearly prove that."
(Valérie Groß, Deutsche Grammophon - jury's verdict on the occasion of the awarding of the Maria-Ladenburger-Förderpreis 2020)
Anna Handler is a German-Colombian conductor and pianist who was raised in Munich. She is a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2023–2024 season.
From September 2024, Handler begins - appointed by Andris Nelsons - her tenure as Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, making her BSO debut at Tanglewood in 2025.
Handler graduated from the Juilliard School in May 2023 where she received mentorship from David Robertson and was the proud recipient of the Juilliard Kovner Fellowship for outstanding students of classical music, which she was the first conductor ever to receive.
Following her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2022 as musical director of the Káťa Kabanová opera camp, Handler was immediately re-engaged to conduct new productions of L'enfant et les sortilèges (2023) and Die Kluge (2024). Further 2023–2024 highlights include her debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra and North Carolina Symphony; BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Grazer Philharmoniker and Münchner Rundfunkorchester.
The 2022/2023 season saw her debut with Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, OFUNAM Orchestra in Mexico, and Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin.
Handler has assisted distinguished conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, including conducting the banda for the concert opera production Mazeppa with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra; Daniel Harding (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks); Barbara Hannigan (LSO, Munich Philharmonic); as well as Manfred Honeck and Simone Young. At the Bayerische Staatsoper, she assisted Oksana Lyniv and took over the musical direction of the production Eve and Adam, premiered as part of the 2019 Munich Opera Festival.
As founder and director of the ensemble ENIGMA CLASSICA, Handler has collaborated with notable soloists including Arabella Steinbacher, Daniel Müller-Schott and Sabine Meyer. Together with her team at Enigma Classica, Handler presented an interdisciplinary project on music education, featuring real-time generative video animation at the Young Artist Festival Bayreuth in August 2022. She was awarded the Maria Ladenburger Förderpreis in cooperation with WDR, the Cusanuswerk Foundation and Deutsche Grammophon. She has also received the Rising Star Award from the European Cultural Foundation Europamusicale.
Handler studied piano and conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, the Accademia Pianistica di Imola, the Folkwang University of the Arts and the Hochschule für Musik „Franz Liszt“ Weimar. Her mentors include Ingrid Fliter, Pavel Gililov and Henri Sigfridsson, Ekhart Wycik, Johannes Schlaefli and Piero Lombardi Iglesias.
Conducting from the piano as well as performing chambermusic with violinist Laura Handler is an important part of her musical identity.
"Anyone who wants to observe what is possible in terms of direct communication between an orchestra and its conductor must hear the Ensemble Enigma Classica under its founder Anna Handler. Every encouraging smile, every sharp look, every stimulating gesture leads to an immediately audible consequence in the excellent young musicians, who pay attention to their conductor as if hypnotized. But the Munich native, not yet in her mid-twenties, is infinitely more than a motivational coach: her conducting technique is impeccable." Michael Bastian Weiß, Abendzeitung München, 21.20.2020
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Calendar
January 29, 30, 31, 2024
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Symphony Concert
Mecklenburgisches Staatsorchester Schwerin, Germany
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Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin
Jeroen Berwaerts, trumpet
MOZART Symphony No. 38 ‘Prague’
Nina ŠENK New work for Trumpet and Orchestra (German Premiere)
HUMMEL Trumpet Concerto
DVORAK Symphony No. 5
Young Mozart Orchestra
Anna Handler (conductor)
Das Jugend Jazz Orchester
Stefan Konzett (conductor)
Barock'nRoll (dancers)
Natalie Gal, Bernhard Girardi (masters of dance)
Mozart/R.Summerer
The Magic Flute KV620
Three Movements for Big Band & Quintet
Mozart + Tanz
Kontretanz KV 609 Nr.3
Antonio Salieri + Tanz
from Concertino da camera for flute and strings G Major: Menuett
Helmut Schmidinger
477a. Begegnungszonen für kleines Orchester (UA)
Mozart
Sinfonie g-minor KV 183
February 9, 2024
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Charity: New moon - new faces - new taste
Bayerisch Gmain, Germany, Klosterhof 8 pm
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Laura Handler, violin
Anna Handler, piano
Alexandra Kahrer, cello
E. Grieg, Sonata No.3 c-moll, op.45
P. Tschaikowsky, Piano Trio a-moll op.50
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
TCHAIKOVSKY Swan Lake
Experience how Tchaikovsky's timeless composition inspires a revamped story for a modern audience by featering selected pieces from the classic suite and, of corse, a dancing accompaniment.
March 9, 2024
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Swan Lake: Reimagined - Symphonies for Youth
11:00 am Los Angeles, Walt Disney Concert Hall
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Los Angeles Philharmonic
TCHAIKOVSKY Swan Lake (excerpts)
TCHAIKOVSKY Sleep Beauty (excerpt)
TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture excerpt
About this Performance
Experience how Tchaikovsky's timeless composition inspires a revamped story for a modern audience by featuring selected pieces from the classic suite and, of course, a dancing accompaniment.
These 45-minute interactive Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts introduce young audiences to symphonic music. Before each concert, families are invited to participate in hands-on arts workshops.
This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.
March 23, 2024
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Swan Lake: Reimagined - Symphonies for Youth
11:00 am Los Angeles, Walt Disney Concert Hall
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Los Angeles Philharmonic
TCHAIKOVSKY Swan Lake (excerpts)
TCHAIKOVSKY Sleep Beauty (excerpt)
TCHAIKOVSKY 1812 Overture excerpt
About this Performance
Experience how Tchaikovsky's timeless composition inspires a revamped story for a modern audience by featuring selected pieces from the classic suite and, of course, a dancing accompaniment.
These 45-minute interactive Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts introduce young audiences to symphonic music. Before each concert, families are invited to participate in hands-on arts workshops.
This concert is recommended for children ages 5 to 11.
March 31, 2024
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Zakhar Bron Festival Orchester - David Garrett
Interlaken, Switzerland. Congress Kursaal 5 pm
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Zakhar Bron Festival Orchestra
David Garrett, violin
Olga Scheps, piano
DVORAK Symphonie No. 9, Largo
SCHUBERT Symphonie No.7 "Unfinished"
GARRETT/HAYWOOD "Open World"
GLUCK Melody from "Orpheus and Eurydike"
KREISLER Liebesleid, Tempo di Minuetto
April 3-7, 2024
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here, there, everywehere: Minnesota Orchestra Young People's Concert
Minneapolis, MN. Orchestra Hall
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Minnesota Orchestra
SHOSTAKOVICH Festive Overture
HABIBI Jeder Baum spricht VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Sinfonia antartica (excerpt)
James P JOHNSON Harlem Symphony (excerpts)
Gabriela Lena FRANK Leyendas, II & VI.
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1, movement 4 (excerpt)
Grazer Philharmoniker
MOZART Serenade No. 13 in G-Dur, KV 525 Eine kleine Nachtmusik
STRAVINSKY Concerto for chamber orchestra in E-flat Major Dumbarton Oaks
HAYDN Symphony No. 8 in G-Dur, Hob. I.8 Le Soir
June 14, 15, 2024
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The world of string instruments
Munich, Germany, Prinzregententheater
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june 14, 10 and 12 a.m. School concerts
june 15, 2 and 4 p.m. Family concerts
each lasting approx. 60 minutes
Speaker: Pia Amofa-Antwi
Soloists from the Munich Radio Orchestra: Stanko Madić (violin), Norbert Merkl (viola), Franҫois Thirault (cello), Alexandre Vay (cello) Ingo Nawra (double bass)
Conductor and harpsichord: Anna Handler
Excerpts from, among others:
W.A. Mozart (1756-1791), “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” in C major KV 525
J.S. Bach (1685-1750), Concerto for Harpsichord and Strings No. 5, F minor
G.F. Handel (1685-1759), Concerto for harp and orchestra in B flat major
P.I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Symphony No. IV in F minor
N. Paganini (1782-1840), Variations on “Il Carnevale di Venezia”
M. Bruch (1838-1920), Romance in F major op.85 for viola and orchestra:
A. Vivaldi (1678-1741), Concerto for 2 cellos in G minor RV 531
June 21, 2024
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North Carolina Symphony Debut: Swan Lake
8:00 pm Koka Booth Amphitheatre, Cary
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North Carolina Symphony
Anna Handler, conductor
Brahms: Tragic Overture
Haydn: Symphony No. 49 “The Passion”
Tchaikovsky: Selections from Swan Lake
July 26 - August 25, 2024
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Carl Orff, The Wise Girl
Opera for children, Salzburg Festival
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JUNG & JEDE*R New production
Regie: Giulia Giammona
Conducter: Anna Handler
Carl Orff, The Wise
The Story of the King and the Wise Woman
Opera for Children
‘Oh, if only I had believed my daughter!’ laments the father. After all,
she had warned him about the king’s suspiciousness… When her father
discovers a valuable object, the king accuses him of keeping a part of
it for himself. The father is promptly thrown in prison. Hearing his cries
of woe, the king summons the man’s daughter. He poses three riddles,
which she solves without difficulty. Impressed by her cleverness, he
takes her as his wife. But when she exposes another error of judgement by the king, he casts her out and allows her to take only ‘what
her heart holds most dear’ with her…
Nine performers and an orchestra
of 15 musicians will explore pressing questions of justice and injustice,
power and powerlessness for a young audience. And the biggest
question of all: what does the wise daughter take with her?
Juilliard Orientation (Orchestra)
Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question
The New: Celebrating Charles Ives and American Experimentalism in Music, Dance, and Drama
18:15: Into the light I
hr symphony orchestra
Anna Handler Conductor
Guido Sant'Anna Violin
PROGRAMME
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor op. 26
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Symphony No. 7 in B minor D 759
"Unfinished"
20:30 : Into the light II
hr-Symphony Orchestra
Anna Handler Conductor
Jaemin Han Violoncello
PROGRAMME
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
Vltava (The Vltava). Symphonic poem from the cycle "My Fatherland"
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Variations on a Rococo Theme for violoncello and orchestra op. 33
Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
Dances from Galánta
December 19, 20, 22, 2024
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Philharmonic Orchestra Neubrandenburg
Neubrandenburg, Güstrow, Neustrelitz, Germany
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19.12., 7:30 p.m. Konzertkirche Neubrandenburg
20.12. 7:30 p.m. Güstrow, Ernst Barlach Theater
22.12. 6 p.m. Neustrelitz, Landestheater Neustrelitz
Neubrandenburger Philharmonie
Alexandra Segal, piano
SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2
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TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 1 “Winter Daydreams”
February 14, 15, 2025
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Rhode Island Philharmonic
Providence, RI. Veterans Memorial Auditorium
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Awadagin Pratt, piano
ADAMS Chairman Dances (Foxtrot for Orchestra)
MONTGOMERY Rounds
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances
March 30, 2025
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Portland Symphony Orchestra Mozart meets Klezmer
Portland, ME. Merrill Auditorium
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David Krakauer, clarinet
MOZART Clarinet Concerto K 622
KRAKAUER/TAGG "Mozart on the Juden Gasse" from "The Fretless Clarinet; Concerto for Klezmer Clarinet and Orchestra"
KRAKAUER Synagogue Wail for Unaccompanied clarinet
TRADITIONAL Arr. KRAKAUER Der Heyser Bulgar
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BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A-Dur
Bastian Spier, horn
MENDELSSOHN Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, op. 21
MENDELSSOHN Incidental Music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, op. 61
R. STRAUSS Horn Concerto No. 1
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MOZART Symphony No. 29
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