As the calendar turns and a new year dawns, music enthusiasts are in for a treat with a series of captivating concerts. The WDR Sinfonieorchester and WDR Radio Choir are bringing the works of Bernstein, Gershwin, and Beethoven to life, setting the stage for an unforgettable New Year's celebration. From the jazz-infused classics of America to the timeless joy of human connection in Beethoven's Ninth, these events promise to be a harmonious blend of tradition and innovation. Join us as we explore these musical journeys that redefine the boundaries of classical and contemporary sounds.

Embracing New Year with Melodic Harmonies: A Celebration of Bernstein, Gershwin, and Beethoven

Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" is not just music, it is a moving message of peace. Anyone who has ever been to Coventry will understand why: This deeply moving work, which inextricably links horror and hope, destruction and new beginnings, emerged in 1962 from the rubble of the cathedral destroyed in 1940. Britten's sensitive, profoundly human musical language makes this monumental oratorio an experience that leaves no one untouched.
Under the direction of Asher Fisch, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, an outstanding international ensemble of soloists, and the renowned WDR Radio Choir – making their first appearance here – will join forces for this season's highlight. Together with the Choir of the Städtischer Musikverein, the Clara Schumann Youth Choir, and the Children's and Youth Choir of the Akademie für Musiktheater, you can expect a performance whose emotional resonance will stay with you for a long time.

War Requiem

Tonhalle Düsseldorf

Young singers from the Choral Academy and aspiring choir conductors from the Cologne University of Music are of particular interest to the WDR Radio Choir. Here, creative curiosity meets professional choral singing - and creates magical musical moments.

Academy Concert

Cologne University of Music and Dance

The joy of human connection has probably never been sung about more beautifully than in Beethoven's Ninth. The New Year can hardly start in a more atmospheric way than with this famous, top-class piece.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods

Eurogress Aachen

Kölner Philharmonie

A musical trip to America at the end of the year - with the composers Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin, in whose works the new sounds of the West and jazz are mixed with the traditions of European classical music. Between Bernstein's festival music "Divertimento" and Gershwin's Southern opera "Porgy and Bess" one of the strongest female voices in America has her say: the composer Jessie Montgomery, born in New York in 1981. Her "Freedom Songs" were written especially for the soprano Julia Bullock and are modern arrangements of traditional Afro-American music.

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New Year's Eve Concert - Bernstein & Gershwin

Cologne Philharmonie

"Rejoice, be glad!" sings the choir at the beginning, ushering in the Advent season for many every year. With rousing choirs, atmospheric solos and contemplative chorales, Bach's Christmas Oratorio finds a tone and gesture that delights audiences and singers alike and has made the work a favorite piece during the Christmas season. A star cast of soloists, the WDR Radio Choir, the WDR Symphony Orchestra and the charismatic conductor Simon Halsey allow the great music to unfold its full radiance and together tell a timeless story of peace on earth.

Bach: Christmas Oratorio

Rejoice, be glad! Bach's Christmas Oratorio is as much a part of the holidays as mulled wine and the Advent wreath. In this concert, however, the audience must actively help to experience the popular and famous Christmas music: the appropriate music will only be heard if the puzzles of the exclusive Bach Escape Room game are solved.

Bach with a twist: Christmas Escape Room | WDR@Philharmonie

To put it bluntly, one could rightly describe Johannes Brahms's German Requiem as a misnomer. This work is not a requiem, a Catholic requiem mass in Latin, but one that is entirely devoted to the living. It is not about the deceased themselves, their journey before the throne of God, the horrors of the Last Judgement, or the anxious plea for mercy in the afterlife. Rather, it addresses all those left behind on earth, "those who suffer" and who, in their despair, need consolation.

WDR Radio Choir

Mar 15, 2026

Confidence

Oct 31 - Nov 3, 2025

War Requiem

Jan 16, 2025

Academy Concert

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