Brundibár - 02.10.2026 - Dresdner Philharmonie

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: Friday | 10/02/2026
9:00 am Start of Concert
: Kulturpalast, Konzertsaal
: Admission for school classes is free upon registration.
Pre-sale will begin at a later date.

: Friday | 10/02/2026
10:45 am Start of Concert
: Kulturpalast, Konzertsaal
: Admission for school classes is free upon registration.
Pre-sale will begin at a later date.

About the Concert

Duration: approx. 1 hr without intermission

Aninka and Pepíček want to sing in the marketplace to collect money for their sick mother. However, the barrel organ man Brundibár fears competition and drives them away. Thanks to the help of a dog, a cat, and a sparrow, and with the support of the other children in the town, they manage to stand up against the intimidation attempts.
Hans Krása's "Brundibár" is a playful yet profound children's opera – full of wit, music, and imagination, and at the same time inextricably linked to its history of creation. The production pays tribute to the composer and the children of Theresienstadt, who performed "Brundibár" over 50 times from 1943 onwards, without reducing the work to a historical document. At its centre is Brundibár as a timeless fable about power, seduction, and collective action. Rich in colour, humorous, and immediate in its storytelling, this production speaks directly to children while simultaneously offering older viewers multifaceted perspectives on history, responsibility, and the courage to recognise power – and to resist it together.

9:00 am: Classes 3-10
10:45 am: Classes 3-10

Programme

Hans Krása
"Brundibár" Opera for Children
Overture for Small Orchestra

James MacMillan (Composer in Residence)
"Dětem" for Children's Choir

Artists

Tabatha McFadyen: Direction and Choreography
Gunter Berger: Artistic Director
Georg Köhler: Conductor
Bernhard Hansky: Baritone
Antoni Staniec: Pepícek
Busecan Coşkun: Aninka
Nadia Toliou: Police officer
Xiang Li: Spatz
Mei Ling Daniell-Greenhalgh: Cat
Nikolai Füchte: Dog
Nicolas Köhler: Dance
Carley Marholin: Dance
Philip Mayers: Piano
Carola Volles: Equipment
Alexander Hauer: Lighting design
Philharmonischer Kinderchor Dresden
Dresdner Philharmonie

Australian-born Tabatha McFadyen, now based in Berlin, is a director, choreographer and performer. Her most recent projects include choreography and assistant directing for "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" at the Berlin State Opera, where she was also permanently employed as a staff producer until 2025, and choreography for "Der Rosenkavalier" in Zurich. She has worked with internationally renowned directors such as Lydia Steier, Claus Guth, Robert Carsen, Calixto Bieito and Barrie Kosky.

Choir Director / Direction children's and civic choir

Gunter Berger studied school music and orchestral conducting, but has devoted himself primarily to choral music since 1990. From 1990 to 2011, he led the MDR Children's Choir to European fame, and from summer 2012 he took over the direction of the Dresden Philharmonic Choir for ten years. Since 2022, he has concentrated on conducting the Dresden Philharmonic Children's Choir and the Bürgerchor am Kulti as well as on his numerous teaching activities, workshops and program ideas, with which he enriches the choral scene.

Georg Köhler is the Runnicles Fellow of the Dresden Philharmonic for the 2026/27 season and has held the post of Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Zurich Academic Chamber Orchestra since 2023

German baritone Bernhard Hansky studied singing at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin with Hanno Müller-Brachmann and Kammersänger Roman Trekel, as well as in master classes with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Angelika Kirchschlager and Brigitte Fassbaender.

Antoni Staniec is a tenor and is studying at the Berlin University of the Arts. Born in Kraków, he grew up in Częstochowa and Schwedt/Oder, where he received his initial musical training at the J. A. P. Schulz Music School before embarking on a course in arts education in Berlin.

Busecan Coşkun was born in Turkey and only found her artistic calling in music as an adult. She began her musical training in 2018 with private singing lessons from Abbie Furmansky, where she continued to develop her voice and artistic expression over the following years. In January 2026, she successfully completed her Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance (mezzo-soprano) at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden. Since 2025, she has also been receiving vocal coaching and artistic guidance from Elisabeth Wilke.

The Greek soprano Nadia Toliou is active as an opera and concert singer. She studied Bachelor of Voice and Master of Opera with Prof. Yamina Maamar at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden and was supported by DAAD scholarship. In the 2025 season, she performed the title role in Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank. She made her operatic debut in 2022 as the First Boy in Die Zauberflöte at the Staatsoperette Dresden.

The Chinese soprano Xiang Li, born in 2000, is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Concert Performance and attending the Opera Masterclass at the Carl Maria von Weber Academy of Music in Dresden under Prof. Yamina Maamar, as well as the Lied class taught by KS Prof. Olaf Bär. She previously successfully completed her Bachelor’s degree at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in China.

The baritone Nikolai Füchte is studying singing at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music in Dresden under Prof. Hartmut Zabel. He has gained valuable additional inspiration through his work with Britta Schwarz, KS Olaf Bär and Snežna Nena Brzaković. Engagements as a concert soloist have taken him, amongst other venues, to the “Sumartónleikar í Skálholti” festival in Iceland, the “Koningin Elisabethzaal Antwerpen” in Belgium, as well as the “Kulturpalast Dresden” and the Dresden Frauenkirche. A key focus of his artistic work lies in Baroque music and the music of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Nicolas Köhler, who has been passionate about dance from a young age, trained in jazz, ballet and contemporary dance at the DanceEmotion Academy in Freiburg im Breisgau until he left school. As a member of the jazz company Release, he took part in several world championships, winning the titles of World Champion and Runner-up. At the age of 15, he also received the special “Dancer of the Year” award from the Dance World Cup and was invited to the prestigious Australian Showcase Dance Championships, which he successfully completed.

Carley Marholin is a dancer who trained in New York, where she appeared in numerous productions at the start of her career. She has danced with, among others, the Martha Graham Dance Company and Steps Ensemble. She now lives in Berlin, where she is very active in the independent dance scene. She has also performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the Semperoper Dresden and the Landesbühnen Sachsen. As a choreographer, she has realised projects in New York and Berlin.

Philip Mayers is an Australian musician of remarkable versatility, enjoying an enviable reputation as a sought-after chamber music partner, accompanist, vocal coach, and pianist, the latter especially in the field of New Music, where he has been involved in the premières of more than one hundred new works. His concert performances have taken him to leading festivals.

Carola Volles studied costume design at the Berlin University of the Arts and graduated with a diploma. At the same time, she gained experience as an assistant and artistic collaborator on numerous theatre and opera productions, working very closely with Jorge Jara, Christof Loy and Herbert Murauer, amongst others, at opera houses both in Germany and abroad, including in Hamburg, Bremen, Hanover, Vienna, Graz, Brussels, Oslo, Riga, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Toronto and London.

Actor, choreographer, and director Alexander Hauer was a member of the Theater Bremen ensemble from 2000 to 2004. Since 2004, he has been working as a freelancer, developing music, dance, and theater projects that uniquely combine movement, sound, and community. In 2011, he founded the non-profit cultural institution OpusEinhundert, where he has been Artistic Director ever since, staging inclusive productions with up to 150 performers of different ages.

The Dresden Philharmonic Children’s Choir is one of Germany’s best-known and most successful children’s choirs and has a history stretching back almost sixty years. Its repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to the 21st century, encompassing works from many countries and cultures, from folk songs to pop adaptations.

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Top class! That is the claim of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra stands for concerts at the highest artistic level, musical education for all ages and looking beyond the musical horizon. Guest performances on almost every continent and collaborations with guests from all over the world have established the reputation of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra in the international classical music world.

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