Durchbruch! – Beethoven 9

The Süddeutsches Sinfonieorchester (SDO) is planning its next major symphonic project for February 2027! The concert entitled "Durchbruch!" on 24 February 2027 in the Beethoven Hall of the Liederhalle Stuttgart is devoted entirely to our season theme "Being human. Becoming human.".

This time the programme features a world premiere by Patrick Giesel and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Op. 125, which will be performed together with a project choir. To prepare properly for this concert, several rehearsals have been scheduled in February 2027 for both choir and orchestra, so that everything is in the best possible shape for the concert on 24 February 2027. Alongside the applicants, professional musicians from major, renowned professional orchestras will also play at the desks.

The rehearsal dates for the project are listed below this text. Overnight accommodation, where needed, can be arranged individually in agreement with the project management.

We do not see ourselves as an orchestra exclusively for musicians from southern Germany, nor do we limit ourselves to one age group. Applications are open to all enthusiastic musicians of every age who would like to work intensively on the music together with us.

The application period for the project ends on 30 December 2026. All you need to do to apply is fill in the application form linked above. Because, as an orchestra, it matters to us for the sake of the music that everyone interested has the chance to apply, there will be no costs or participation fees for participants in this project; meals and sleeping arrangements are also taken care of. Only your own travel to and from the rehearsal period, and your journey home after the last concert, must be paid for by yourself.

To meet our standards of quality and the complexity of the chosen works, applicants for the orchestra need to reach a certain level. For this reason we have decided to make a short video clip part of the application for orchestral players. The recording need only last a few minutes and is simply meant to demonstrate the applicant’s abilities clearly. There is no prescribed piece or any other requirement. In this way we want to avoid the effort of a formal audition with travel and so on, and offer everyone the convenient option of sending in a video, according to their own circumstances.
Choir singers do not need to send in a video clip. Information about your own musical experience, given at registration, is enough for us. Should you nevertheless wish to send a video, you will have the option to do so on a voluntary basis.

After the application, and once the video has been accepted (except for singers), we will send the applicant a registration form for the working phase. The aim of this project phase is to combine music-making of high quality with a shared joy in music, resulting in a detailed, focused rehearsal period with great concerts to conclude it. Besides an intense and memorable time with other musicians, as a musician you also get to know a great work of the repertoire better, almost as a side effect. The concert hall, too, with its history, modernity and special acoustics, makes performing with the SDO a unique experience.

The SDO looks forward to receiving many applications!

• Participation is free of charge.
• A successful application is a prerequisite for participation.
• Once participation has been confirmed, involvement in the whole project becomes binding.
• Participants are expected to attend all rehearsals scheduled for their section, as well as the dress rehearsal, the sound check and the concert.
• Participants undertake to prepare independently and sufficiently for the rehearsals and to study the music provided carefully.
• If you are unable to attend, the project management must be informed as early as possible.
• Travel to and from the venue and any other personal costs are to be borne by the participants themselves.
• Overnight accommodation can be arranged by agreement; there is no entitlement to any particular accommodation.
• Changes to the rehearsal schedule, rehearsal venues or organisational arrangements are reserved and will be communicated in good time.
• By registering, participants confirm that they accept the terms of participation and are able to attend the dates scheduled for them.

The Süddeutsches Sinfonieorchester was newly founded in 2025 and has been growing rapidly ever since. It began as a group of young friends, all prizewinners in many national and international competitions, who were still called “Junge Solisten Stuttgart”. In a very short time this grew into a larger symphony orchestra in which a wide variety of musicians from the region come together: members of renowned youth orchestras such as the Bundesjugendorchester, students from the music university, strengthened by the experience of members of Stuttgart’s major professional orchestras. The young ensemble’s great shared aim: to rethink classical music, to experiment, to develop, and to convince through energy and quality!