Anna Handler will be Artist in Residence at the Beethoven House during the 2026/2027 season

The 2026/27 concert season will mark the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's death. Anna Handler's residency at the Beethoven-Haus is part of a comprehensive Beethoven focus in the work of the musician, born in 1996, with her various orchestras in the coming months, including the Ulster Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

For several years now, the Beethoven-Haus has been inviting outstanding young musicians to present various aspects of their work as Artists in Residence and to engage intensively with Beethoven. For the Beethoven anniversary season 2026/27, Anna Handler has accepted this offer. She is not only one of the most promising conductors of the younger generation but has also earned a reputation as a pianist and chamber musician. Anna Handler will organise four concerts for the Beethoven-Haus with different aspects. These concerts will serve as the starting point for an intensive engagement with Beethoven in her work, which will begin with different orchestras, such as Ulster Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, in the coming months. Anna Handler will be accompanied by filmmaker Jason Scheunemann, who will document the process. Details on the concert dates and programs will be published later.

'It fills me with deep gratitude to be closely connected with the Beethoven-Haus Bonn as Artist in Residence during the 2026/2027 anniversary season, marking the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, and to deepen my relationship with Beethoven at the authentic place of his life and work,' says Anna Handler. 'Beethoven has accompanied me for many years, but in the coming season he will move especially to the center of my artistic work. In particular, the years around his thirtieth birthday, shaped by existential questions and radical artistic renewal, resonate with me both personally and programmatically in my work as a pianist and conductor.'

Anna Handler is the designated chief conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, Kappelmeister at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and, until August 2026, assistant conductor at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She was previously a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She was the first conductor ever to receive the prestigious Kovner Fellowship from The Juilliard School in New York, where she completed her master's degree in 2023.

As a chamber musician, she is the founder and director of the ensemble Enigma Classica, with which she has collaborated with Arabella Steinbacher, Daniel Müller-Schott, Sabine Meyer and violinist Laura Handler, among others. She also forms a successful instrumental duo with her sister. Anna Handler is a scholarship holder of the German Music Foundation and has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Maria Ladenburger Prize for Music, awarded in 2020 at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.

Handler's debuts with internationally renowned orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic and the hr Symphony Orchestra mark further highlights of her career to date. She has worked with artists such as Augustin Hadelich, Yo-Yo Ma, John Adams and John Williams. In 2025, she conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. Her subscription debuts with both orchestras will follow in the 2025/26 season.

Artist photos

Artist's website

Biography Anna Handler

The German-Colombian conductor and pianist Anna Handler has been performing on stages and in concert halls around the world since her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2022.

In November 2025, she was appointed Chief Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, a position she will begin in the 26/27 season. Since the 25/26 season, she has served as Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she was invited to conduct eleven opera performances in her first season. She was previously a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the 23/24 season. Following her debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall, she was immediately invited back to conduct the orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl in July 2025. Last summer, Handler made her highly successful debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival. She was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra by Andris Nelsons for a two-year term beginning with the 24/25 season and concluding in the summer of 2026, marking another important milestone in her career.

The 25/26 season will see her subscription debuts with both the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall in Boston. Other notable engagements include appearances with the Dresden Philharmonic and the New Years concert of the Royal Swedish Opera, as well as a concert at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (Großer Saal) in April 2026 with Jonathan Tetelmann. She has previously conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Brass at the Dresden Music Festival.

Handler's close relationship with the Salzburg Festival began in 2022 with her debut as Music Director of Kát’a Kabanová for the renowned Opera Camp series, followed by Ravel's L’Enfant et les sortilèges in 2023 and Carl Orff's Die Kluge in 2024. Further highlights include debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, as well as collaborations with Barbara Hannigan, Okka von der Damerau, Sabine Meyer, and Yo-Yo Ma.

Handler grew up in Munich and initially studied piano and conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich before continuing her studies at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar, the Accademia Pianistica Internazionale di Imola and the Folkwang University of the Arts. She completed her master’s degree in conducting at the Juilliard School in New York in May 2023. At Juilliard, she was the first conductor ever to receive the prestigious Kovner Fellowship.

As director of the Ensemble Enigma Classica, which she founded in 2019, Handler works with renowned soloists. She is particularly interested in technology-supported music mediation in real time. Conducting from the piano and chamber music collaborations with violinist Laura Handler are an important part of her musical identity.

Handler received the Rising Star Award from the European Cultural Foundation Europamusicale and is a scholarship holder of the German Foundation for Musical Life. She was also awarded the Maria Ladenburger Prize for Music in cooperation with WDR, the Cusanuswerk Foundation and Deutsche Grammophon.

Contact:
Ursula Timmer-Fontani
Head of Corporate Communications
Beethoven-Haus Bonn
timmer-fontani@beethoven.de
+49 (0)228 98175-16