Artist in Residence

Anna Handler

Each concert season, the Beethoven-Haus invites outstanding young musicians to take up a residency, presenting various aspects of their work and engaging deeply with Beethoven. Anna Handler has been secured as Artist in Residence for the Beethoven anniversary season 2026/27. She is not only one of the most promising conductors of the younger generation, but has also made a name for herself as a pianist and chamber musician. Anna Handler will curate four concerts for the Beethoven-Haus featuring different ensembles. These will serve as the starting point for an in-depth exploration of Beethoven in her work, which began as early as spring 2026 with various orchestras, including the Ulster Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

Anna Handler is the designated principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, as well as principal conductor at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and, until August 2026, assistant conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She was previously a Dudamel Fellow and is now a permanent conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She was the first ever conducting student 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. She is a scholarship holder of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and has been awarded numerous prizes. Handler’s debuts with internationally renowned orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic and the hr-Sinfonieorchester mark further highlights of her career to date. She has also 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.

'I am deeply grateful to be closely associated with the Beethoven-Haus Bonn during the 2026/27 anniversary season, marking the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, and to be able to deepen my connection with Beethoven at the very place where he lived and worked. Beethoven has been a constant companion of mine for many years, but in the coming season he will take centre stage in my work. It is particularly the years around his thirtieth birthday, marked by existential questions and radical artistic renewal, that engage me both personally and in terms of my programme as a pianist and conductor.'
Anna Handler

Supported by: The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media