“Your friendly neighborhood new music string quartet” – that is how the JACK Quartet from New York describe themselves. But despite the quaint moniker, the youthful foursome have been taking their cellos and violins far beyond their U.S. hometown. This September, it’s Berlin’s turn to host: the Philharmonie’s Chamber Music Hall will be welcoming JACK for a performance of modern works that includes “Tetras” by Iannis Xenakis, who, besides composing music, worked as an architect under Le Corbusier. The show is part of Musikfest Berlin (27.08–19.09.2022), a three-week program of music organized by the Berliner Festspiele and the Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker that will bring top orchestras from around the world to the city’s concert venues. Highlights will include a Berlin comeback by Sir Simon Rattle, who will be conducting the London Symphony Orchestra for a concert of dance-inspired works.

The names in the program leave little doubt as to the quality of the music, with Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra among the groups to perform. Led by Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Philadelphia’s finest musicians will celebrate the works of composer Florence Price, the first African-American woman to have a composition played by a major orchestra. The program ends with an epic tribute to another important African-American musician: Charles Mingus, whose works will be played in a two-and-a-half hour concert by the Deutsche Oper Berlin BigBand. It’s a fitting finale to a festival that showcases musical excellence in all its forms.

Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Kaupo Kikkas, Roger Mastroianni & Adam Janisch

Musikfest Berlin (27.08–19.09.2022) – for the full program and tickets see the website.

@berlinerfestspiele