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Luxembourg’s Philharmonie in Luxembourg-Kirchberg is celebrating its 20th anniversary and the orchestra’s conductor, Gustavo Gimeno’s tenth and final season as resident director of the Luxembourg Philharmonic.

This year also marks the fifteenth anniversary of the Fondation EME, an association aiming to bring music “where it Is rarely heard” and allowing audiences removed from culture to enjoy it too. Now there are over 17,000 beneficiaries per year of its initiative in Luxembourg, with more to come, Philharmonie Luxembourg emphasised.

Following from last year, the Philharmonie noted it is exploring its new visual identity combining the slogan “We See Music” with a series of images depicting familiar sights: a bathroom shelf, a playground, a bar counter and more. This aims to remind the public that public is a part of everyday life, and an experience available to everyone.

During the press conference presenting the new programme, Stephan Gehmacher, Director of the Philharmonie Luxembourg, pointed out: “Music is emotion! Every evening at the Philharmonie, musicians and audiences come together for a shared experience full of emotion. Our goal is to tirelessly elicit this array of emotions through the combination of a variety of aesthetics, musical styles and artists, season after season. Plenty to whet your appetite for discovery!”

Luxembourg’s Minister of Culture, Eric Thill, added: “Boasting a host of exciting projects to its name and a now-iconic building, the Philharmonie still holds many surprises in store, as seen in the richness of its ever more varied programming, to reach the widest and most diverse audience possible. The Philharmonie still has life ahead of it.”

Some highlights will include:

  • 5 October 2024: Broadway Sings;
  • 6 December 2024: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony;
  • 20 & 21 December 2024: Christmas Concert;
  • 15 & 16 January 2025: London Symphony Orchestra;
  • 7 March 2025: Queen Swings;
  • 9 March 2025: Verdi Requiem;
  • 13&14 March 2025: Ciné Concert Indiana Jones;
  • 28 March 2025: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra;
  • 30 March 2025: Gast Waltzing & Luxembourg Phiharmonic;
  • 13 June 2025: Bernstein in Luxembourg.

Three festivals will take place during this new season, namely the Festival atlântico, the Rainy Days festival and a festival for families and children entitled “Zirkus” (circus).

Festival atlântico is dedicated to music from Portuguese-speaking countries and will include jazz, samba, electro fusion music and a Brazilian music discovery workshop, among other activities. The Rainy Days festival will have as a motto “extremes”, introducing modern classics and unusual surprises alike, with something planned for all ages. The Circus festival will have animals as a theme and offer various workshops to engage children and get them curious about music and its manifold possibilities.

This upcoming season, the subscription catalogue will diversify, offering new series (Baroque sessions, Piano Sessions and World Sessions). In autumn 2024, an extension project for the building itself will kick off to increase audience and communal areas.