Karin - profile

Karin Berger

council
My personal relationship to the MCO:

I became involved with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (GMJO) in 1992 after meeting Claudio Abbado, and being impressed by his interpretation of Verdi’s Requiem. The GMJO was founded on the initiative of Claudio Abbado in 1986-87. Its overall goal was to support musical talent and work with young musicians.

The GMJO is now considered the world’s leading orchestra for the next generation of top musicians. A number of the outstanding musicians of the GMJO, including Andrea Zietzschmann, Annette zu Castell, Antonella Manacorda and Chiara Tonelli, made the conscious decision to found an independently financed orchestra of the highest caliber: the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO).

I immediately joined the effort, supported the founding phase in Landshut in 1996. I became a founding member and have maintained close relations with the MCO, now serving as a member of the MCO Foundation’s board.

The Orchestra brings together international, refined, highly technically sophisticated musical personalities. My greatest experience with the MCO was the Don Giovanni performance 1998 in Aix-en-Provence, once conducted by Claudio Abbado and once by Daniel Harding.