Andrea Zietzschmann, born in 1970, studied musicology, art history and business administration in Freiburg, Vienna and Hamburg. During that time, she also worked for the West German Broadcasting Corporation (WDR), the Stuttgart State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. Together with Claudio Abbado, she founded the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in 1997 and served as director of the ensemble for six years. In 2003 she joined the Hessian Broadcasting Corporation as orchestra manager. In 2008 she assumed the position of head of music there, with responsibility for the station’s orchestras and festivals, including the contemporary music festival Cresc. In November 2013 Andrea Zietzschmann moved to Hamburg, where she took over the management of the four orchestras, the concert series and festivals of the Northern German Broadcasting Corporation (NDR). During her tenure with NDR, she was also in charge of the Elbphilharmonie project and the launch of the residency of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra at Hamburg’s new landmark. Andrea Zietzschmann has been general manager of the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation since 1 September 2017 and is responsible for both the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Philharmonie Berlin.

Stefan Dohr is blessed with both a “thundering tone that resounds valley-wide” (Berliner Zeitung) and a breathtakingly “delicate piano that sounds as if from afar” (Badische Zeitung). As an acclaimed soloist, chamber musician and principal horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker, he is a mainstay of the international horn scene. In the orchestra, he has a special task: on the one hand, the horn player is a “quasi mediator between the instrumental groups, on the other hand, a soloist in Mahler and Bruckner symphonies, for example”.

In addition to the Classical and Romantic repertoire, Stefan Dohr loves contemporary music, as evidenced by his participation in the world premieres of Toshio Hosokawa’s Moment of Blossoming and Hans Abrahamsen’s Horn Concerto together with the Berliner Philharmoniker. His virtuosity and thirst for discovery have also inspired other composers to write new works for him, and explore the possibilities of the horn in new ways. Born in Münster, he studied in Essen and Cologne and was principal horn with the Frankfurter Opern- and Museumsorchester, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin before joining the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1993. He teaches not only at the Karajan Academy, but also at the Sibelius Academy Helsinki, the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and the Royal College of Music in London. As member of the orchestra committee, the musician is a deputy member of the Board of Trustees of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Olaf Maninger studied initially with János Starker and then continued his training with Boris Pergamenschikow. He joined the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1995, and was appointed principal cellist with the orchestra in 1996. In the years 1997 to 2002, Olaf Maninger was managing director of the Berliner Philharmoniker GbR. Since the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation was set up in 2002, he has been a member of the board. In this capacity, he played a significant role in the development of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Digital Concert Hall. He has been general manager of Berlin Phil Media GmbH since 2008. Olaf Maninger is also one of the 12 Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Katja Frei has been the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Director of Education and Outreach since September 2020. She is responsible for expanding sustainable partnerships in educational, social, and digital fields, as well as developing music education programs for people of all ages in Germany and abroad. Prior to her current position, she led the education department of the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna for five years, establishing a new branch within the seasonal programme with a focus on community music projects and the development of inclusion programs. From 2010 to 2015, she was part of the establishment of the Otto Group’s CSR music project “The Young ClassX”. Before this, she was an active orchestral musician in Germany, and holds a master’s degree in music management and music education as well as graduate diplomas in violin performance. Her activities as a conference speaker and lecturer have taken her to the U.S., Switzerland, Austria and various universities in Germany.