Florian Wiegand, what role does trust play in your work?
That musicians from all over the world come to the Munich Philharmonic is not just to do with its name, but also with trust. If there is no trust, that indescribable moment at which great art is created can never happen in the orchestra. Creating spaces for trust and encounters is my main task. Trust is a crucial basis for cooperation with colleagues both on stage and backstage, with the orchestra committees, politicians, friends of the orchestra and other partners.
How did you get into your profession?
That has a lot to do with the Philharmonic. In my school days in Munich, I often watched rehearsals and concerts under Sergiu Celibidache. That inspired me. In those days, I played the viola in a Munich youth orchestra. In 1996, we organised benefit concerts for UNICEF in Paris and Munich. The patron of those concerts, Munich’s then mayor Christian Ude, was so taken by them that he granted me a wish. He personally made sure that I got an internship in the management of the Munich Philharmonic.
And what happened after that?
After that, I moved first to Berlin and then to Pittsburgh, where I finished my studies and worked with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, where Mariss Jansons was principal conductor at the time. Back in Europe, I spent ten years at the newly opened Dortmund concert hall and the last 13 years as concert and media director of the Salzburg Festival. No job offer could lure me away from this special festival until I was asked whether I would be interested in the directorship of the Munich Philharmonic. So here I am.
Which of your tasks to you consider to hold the greatest responsibility?
We have the privilege of creating art with public funds. As many as 160 people work on stage and behind the scenes of the Munich Philharmonic. All of them have completed challenging training programmes, undergone tricky selection processes and continue to develop their skills and expertise. The Munich Philharmonic can play great works of art from the past and present and bring them to life again and again. For me, my most responsible task is shaping a social organism in a vibrant, contemporary way. If we succeed in fulfilling our responsibility towards people, works of music and resources, we will not forget why society needs an institution like this.
When is it better to let go and trust blindly?
When we have succeeded in forging a vibrant connection between artists, works and the orchestra’s musicians. And when that magical moment of making music and breathing together occurs. When the works start to speak to us in rehearsal and everyone feels what only music can express, then I let go, trust blindly and just look forward to the concert and the audience.
All Munich Philharmonic concerts
In times when music is often politically instrumentalised, do you still trust in the power of music?
In every truly successful concert, there are moments when the music outshines everything for which it could be instrumentalised; moments in which music is a celebration of life and its unimaginable abundance. I don’t just trust the power of art; I get to experience it time and again. And I feel how many others share in these moments.
Text: Anna Steinbauer
