The Munich Chamber Orchestra Turns 75: A Trip to Wonderland

The orchestra’s novel formats include MKO Inside, where the audience sits on stage among the musicians and can watch them and the conductor close up as they perform in the Isarphilharmonie: a unique experience of sight and sound. With the Munich Chamber Orchestra, classical music meets new music, openness and an appetite for new approaches.

“We have found a playground with our concert series where we can try out things that perhaps no other chamber orchestra can achieve to this extent,” says Florian Ganslmeier, who has been the MKO’s director for two decades now. Like the rest of the world, the orchestra has undergone a transformation over its 75 years of existence. Founded as a traditional chamber orchestra, its focus changed significantly in the mid-1990s, when it began to juxtapose its classical repertoire with contemporary works. This approach continues to shape the MKO’s concert programmes to this day: “It keeps the classical element alive and drives its further development,” says Ganslmeier. He also emphasises his particular desire to incorporate this concept in music education and outreach: “Building bridges to other art forms and spaces across all age groups is a core concern for us.”

The MKO consists of 28 permanent musicians (15 violins, six violas, five cellos and two double basses) from 16 different countries. The orchestra itself is partly independently and partly state-funded. Ganslmeier considers this a good balance on the whole, as the orchestra can offer its musicians a permanent position while also maintaining its ties to the independent scene. This allows it to engage musicians on a per-project basis, for example wind players to perform core repertoire such as Beethoven. And the model clearly works: The chamber orchestra tours throughout the world and has been able to continuously increase its Munich subscriber numbers in recent years.

At the request of the orchestra itself, the MKO agreed on a fundamental reorganisation with the management starting with of the 2022/23 season. Three “associated conductors” with different artistic profiles now share the position of chief conductor: Jörg Widmann, Enrico Onofri and Bas Wiegers. “This gives us the best of two worlds: in-depth engagement with certain musical areas and the long-term commitment needed to grow together,” says Ganslmeier. A glance at the programme promises plenty of variety: from commissioned compositions and immersive concerts with video projections to portraits of composers in a workroom setting and school projects.

The orchestra’s greatest handicap is that it has now spent 14 years without a permanent rehearsal room. As well as being an immense challenge for the musicians that makes their work much more difficult, it also means laborious logistics, as the office and orchestra are housed in different locations. “Like any cultural organisation, an orchestra needs a home,” says the MKO Managing Director. And that is where the refurbished “New Gasteig” comes into play, which, the orchestra hopes, will be its future home as part of the Gasteig family. The motto for the MKO’s anniversary season is “Wonderland” – an allusion to Unsuk Chin’s opera Alice in Wonderland.

Ganslmeier also considers the topic in the context of the current discourse on the politicisation of music: “Music needs its freedom to reach people directly and on a deeper level – that is its great power. Perhaps music must be this Wonderland. But that’s not the same as escapism or ignoring the things that happen all around us. As a cultural organisation, we don’t operate in a vacuum.” That is why he lays such great sore by performing Jörg Widmann’s great Friedenskantate alongside Mendelssohn’s Symphony 5, the Reformation, at the MKO’s official anniversary concert at the Isarphilharmonie in June.