Artistic Director Sebastian Nordmann leaves the Berlin Konzerthaus: from the Gendarmenmarkt to Lake Lucerne

When he became director of the Konzerthaus in 2009, nobody would have thought that he would stay at Gendarmenmarkt for so long: Sebastian Nordmann was considered a shooting star among German cultural managers. In 2002, at the age of just 31, he became director of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and quickly achieved considerable success show. So that was the beginning of a steep career.

A shooting star as a cultural manager

But Sebastian Nordmann obviously liked the Berlin challenge: namely to give the concert hall, which has been chronically overshadowed by the famous Philharmonie, an unmistakable profile through innovative ideas. As a temple to the muses, which shines on the outside in the elegant classicism of a Karl Friedrich Schinkel and on the inside is reminiscent of a creation by Gianni Versace, as entertainer Thomas Gottschalk once put it, but where classicism is thought of today. Nordmann experimented with unconventional concert formats, offered the audience virtual reality glasses and encouraged the musicians of the Konzerthausorchester to use their own Twitch channel.

Now, however, he has been made an offer that he could not refuse: in January 2026 he will take over the highly posh Swiss Lucerne Festival. The best orchestras in the world traditionally perform in the fantastic culture and congress center on Lake Lucerne, designed by the architect Jean Nouvel.

Sebastian Nordmann will remain director at Gendarmenmarkt until the summer of 2025. From autumn he will have a new sparring partner: Joana Mallwitz will then become chief conductor of the Konzerthausorchester, the first woman in this top position in Berlin. Fredrik Hanssen