Simone Young

Chief Conductor

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It begins with the four most famous notes in music. The legendary motif propels the entire first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth.  

The power of this symphony never relents, from those iconic opening moments to the bright light of the finale. The end of the third movement is electric, strings hovering in suspense before erupting into one of the most triumphant transitions in classical music, from tension to pure release.  

Returning after a triumphant Sydney debut in 2024 ‘that brought the house down’ (Limelight), conductor Anja Bihlmaier brings clarity and fire to this rich, century-spanning program.

Australian composer Melody Eötvös’ The Saqqara Bird will fill the Concert Hall with its atmospheric mystery. Inspired by an ancient Egyptian artefact, this is music rich in shifting shapes and shades.  

Schumann’s Cello Concerto is an introspective and lyrical gem. The opening movement floats between hope and melancholy, followed by a gentle, whispered second movement and a skipping finale. Rising soloist Ivan Karizna, ‘a breathtaking and special musician' (Süddeutsche Zeitung), brings a freshness to this beautifully compact concerto.  

From quiet revelation to enduring power, this program serves as a reminder that music can always lift us into the light.

Program

Melody EÖTVÖS

The Saqqara Bird

SCHUMANN

Cello Concerto

BEETHOVEN

Symphony No.5

Artists

Anja Bihlmaier

Conductor

‘Bihlmaier is a conductor who trades flash for focus and puts a premium on clarity... wonderfully evocative with striking dramatic effect...’ Washington Post, May 2024.

Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic since September 2024, she has become a firm favourite at the BBC Proms where she appears annually.  

In 2025/26, she conducts for the first time the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and Orchestre National de Lyon, returning to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Madrid National, Helsinki Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthausorchester, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Sydney and Melbourne symphonies. She continues her residency at the Bonn Beethovenfest conducting the DSO Berlin, with whom she will also open the Berlin Musikfest. Last season she debuted with the Seattle Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Munich Philharmonic, all of whom have reinvited. 

Bihlmaier has a wide-ranging repertoire that includes Haydn, Mahler, Strauss, B.A. Zimmermann to Sibelius, Bartók, Dvořák, Shostakovich, Debussy, Britten, Galina Ustvolskaya and Unsuk Chin.   

In the past two seasons Bihlmaier conducted new productions at the Berlin Staatsoper (Cassandra) and Glyndebourne Festival (Carmen) – both debuts, and both leading to immediate reinvitations.  In Spring 2026 she conducts her first production at the Hamburg Staatsoper (Elektra). In her early career she held positions at the opera houses of Hanover, Chemnitz and Kassel, and went on to conduct at the Vienna Volksoper and across Scandinavia, notably in Malmo (Midsummer Night’s Dream), Tampere (Fliegender Hollaender) and Oslo (La Traviata).

Bihlmaier was Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orkest (Den Haag) 2021-2025 and Principal Guest of the Lahti Sinfonia 2020-2024, and in the past year both orchestras have released CDs with her conducting – Ravel with Residentie and Yeol Eum Son for Naïve, and Prokofiev with Christian Poltera for BIS.

Bihlmaier studied at the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik with Scott Sandmeier, was subsequently awarded a scholarship at the Salzburg Mozarteum and then went on to study with Dennis Russell Davies and Jorge Rotter. She was accepted into the Deutsche Dirigentenforum and received a scholarship from the Brahmsgesellschaft Baden-Baden.

Ivan Karizna

Cello

Ivan Karizna is a profound musical storyteller and poet with a powerful stage presence.

Described by András Schiff as ‘one of the best cellists of his generation’, he has won numerous awards, including prizes at the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth Competitions.

In 2025–26 Karizna returns to Netherlands Philharmonic to give the Dutch premiere of Thomas Larcher’s Cello Concerto under Dmitri Slobodeniouk at the Concertgebouw and makes his debut with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic to perform the Brahms Double Concerto. He tours Australia, performing with Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, whilst other appearances include Residentie Orkest, Kuopio Symphony and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Recent highlights include a six-concert tour with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Vladimir Jurowski, performing Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.2; Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1 with Rotterdam Philharmonic and Tarmo Peltokoski; Shostakovich with Dresden Philharmonic and Tabita Berglund; and Weinberg with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and Dmitry Matvienko. Other collaborations include with Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra and Montreal Symphony Orchestra, working with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Stéphane Denève, Valery Gergiev and Juraj Valčuha.

Karizna is an avid chamber musician and has collaborated with numerous distinguished artists, including Joseph Swensen and Alan Gilbert as part of La Jolla Chamber Music Festival. This season he joins colleagues in Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw and Utrecht’s TivoliVredenburg, as well as at UKARIA in the Adelaide Hills and returns to Elena Bashkirova’s Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival. Past chamber collaborations include with Gidon Kremer, András Schiff, Renaud Capuçon and Christian Tetzlaff.

Born into a musical family in Minsk, Karizna’s early training was in the Russian tradition, and at 17 he moved to the Paris Conservatoire, before completing his training at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson. He plays the 1760 Tassini cello previously owned by Paul Tortelier and on generous loan from a member of the Stretton Society. He is a French citizen, dividing his time between Paris and Amsterdam.