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'Fête galante' means love feast and refers to the paintings that show the parties and excesses of the French nobility in the 18th century. In the popular Danish composer Poul Schierbecks Fête galante such a love fest gets out of control when Count René leads the young Suzon into the dark, and this has major consequences. Poul Schierbeck has written the melodies for some of the most popular Danish songs, including "I was born in Denmark", "Hør den lille stær" and "It's today a weather". The main work Fête galante is his only opera.

In a carefully composed musical sequence, we are led through the heart-rending stories of Easter week until spring and freedom. Orchestral music, arias, lieder, choral songs and group songs create a unified narrative of the journey from festive anticipation through dense darkness to the triumph of light.

He is one of Denmark's greatest singers, but we don't have him to ourselves. Johan Reuter, bass-baritone, sings on the big stages abroad. In recent years, i.a. in the party as the husband Barak in Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten – poignantly sung in e.g. London, New York, Berlin, and fortunately also at the Opera in Copenhagen. Johan Reuter was for a number of years a part of the Kgl. Theater's regular opera ensemble and is still on stage there, most recently in Heise's opera Drot og Marsk, where he played the Martian Stig, who avenges the king's abuse of his wife, with a voice that fits the role completely. A voice that can reach the back rows of the big opera houses, but which also has the finesse that allows him to sing the smaller formats, the songs. Brahms songs, Four serious songs, to texts from the Bible, needs both the power and the fervor Johan Reuter is famous for.

Dmitri Shostakovich's 2nd and 3rd symphonies carried a clear political inspiration and patriotic tone, celebrating the Soviet revolution and the labor movement. Both symphonies were composed early in Shostakovich's career, and were favorably received by the Soviet government for their strongly patriotic character. In contrast, Shostakovich's 4th Symphony, composed in 1935-1936, was not met with the same level of enthusiasm by the Soviet authorities. The symphony was not actually performed publicly until 1961, when it was deemed too "dangerous" by the Soviet authorities due to its complex harmonies and emotional depth, which did not fit into Soviet art policy at the time. Only after Stalin's death was the symphony first performed. With its structure and wide musical range, Shostakovich's 4th Symphony requires an appropriate number of musicians and instruments. That is why, true to tradition, we have teamed up with the Schleswig-Holsteinisches Sinfonieorchester to take on the task.

When Annas Sang is performed at concerts in June 2025, three generations of the musician Koppel family will be present in their own way: Benjamin Koppel, composer and saxophonist with his quartet; Anders Koppel, musician, composer and Benjamin's father, who arranged the music for symphony orchestra – and then Anna, the great-aunt, whose story Benjamin Koppel used when he debuted as a writer in 2022. It became a bestseller and the novel has received many awards.

A car trip can lead to many places. It was Mozart's Requiem on a car radio that lit a spark. Mexican-American Robert Treviño was driving with his father, who was tuning into a classical music radio channel, and then he knew what the meaning of life was, so to speak: He wanted to be a conductor. He was only 8 years old then. He was not from a musical family, and it was only as a teenager that he could begin actual music lessons. Then he threw himself into the bassoon and several other instruments to get a feel for what an orchestra is. Robert Treviño was educated in the USA, but had his professional debut as a conductor in Germany when he was just 20. Since then he has been associated with orchestras both in the USA and Europe, from Malmö in Sweden, where he, among other things, recorded Beethoven's symphonies with the orchestra, to the Basque Country in northern Spain, where he is head of the Basque National Orchestra, with whom he has both recorded Ravel and rarely heard American works - he ranges widely. Wagner and Tchaikovsky are what he is excited about in South Jutland – music about love and its conflicts. Love songs, and a symphony from Tchaikovsky's divided mind.

As we gather around the fire, we will remember the many moments we have shared throughout the season. We take a step back and consider the journey we've been on and celebrate the concerts, challenges and experiences that have shaped us as an orchestra. A special joy of this evening is the reunion with our former chief conductor, Johannes Wildner. Johannes not only brings his musical skills to the concert, but also his unique ability to create a connection between musicians and audience. His presence is a welcome reunion, reminding us of the wonderful memories we have made together over the years. Together with Johannes Wildner and our beloved audience, we look forward to the upcoming summer holidays, filled with sunshine, rest and new challenges in the coming season.

It is with an overwhelming sense of pride and humility that the orchestra has received the invitation to the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival's 40th anniversary. This honor is not only proof of the orchestra's musical quality, but also a symbol of the unique collaboration that exists in the borderland. The festival has previously hosted big, famous names such as Leonard Bernstein, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Andris Poga, Kent Nagano, Semyon Bychkov as well as Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori Gotō and Anne-Sophie Mutter. We look forward to presenting Beethoven's magnificent Missa Solemnis at the festival. Among the great Viennese classics such as Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, Mass compositions are considered a high point in their musical heritage. These composers created magnificent masses that often included choirs, four soloists, and an orchestra.