Janina - profile

Janina Rinck

Development Manager

INTERVIEW

When and where did you first experience the MCO in concert? The first time I heard the Mahler Chamber Orchestra play was at Konzerthaus Dortmund in May 2013, a Henze and Schumann programme with Daniel Harding and Rafał Blechacz. I was struck by the way the musicians communicated with each other on stage – visually as well as acoustically – and I made a mental note to check if there were any internships available with the orchestra management.

What do you like most about the MCO? I know it has been said quite often, but the orchestra’s flexible and reflective way of communication makes it a very unique ensemble. The democratic and open structure is also reflected in the management team, with everybody supporting each other whenever necessary.

What is your most memorable moment with the orchestra? Apart from the evenings on tour in beautiful Ferrara, the most memorable moments happened on the two-week tour in March 2017 with George Benjamin’s wonderful opera Written on Skin where my tasks included giving lighting cues during the performances – oh, the adrenaline! 

The first piece of music you fell in love with: That would be the symphony played during my first tour with the Landes-Jugend-Symphonie-Orchester Saar, in Chile in 2007: whenever I hear the initial timpani beats of Brahms’ First Symphony, I am immediately drawn into the music.

What makes a "perfect" concert? Musicians who are really “in the moment”. An audience who cares. Being caught by surprise.

BIOGRAPHY

After getting to know the MCO during an internship and having worked as Communications Assistant for about a year, Janina returned to the MCO as Development Manager in 2017. In this capacity, Janina works to establish and further the MCO’s connections to institutions, foundations, and political networks.

Coming from a musical family, Janina spent most of her childhood playing the flute in orchestras back at home in the Saarland. She moved to Berlin in 2009 to study Musicology, Media Science and Arts History at Humboldt University (B. A.). With Berlin providing the perfect cultural surroundings, Janina continued studying Musicology at Humboldt University and finished her Master’s Degree in 2017.

Along the way, she coordinated the Young Friends of the Berliner Philharmoniker and worked in the Artistic Administration departments of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Berliner Philharmoniker.

She still spends some of her free time playing the flute – now at Junge Kammerphilharmonie Berlin.