Messiah

April 12 – 15, 2025 | Philharmonie Berlin, Kammermusiksaal

Imagine, you are close to death. But then, there’s this idea – you want to accomplish this task so desperately, that you arise from the bedside, start working like mad – and create a masterpiece.
This is how the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig imagined the creation of Handel’s Messiah in his book Sternstunden der Menschheit. “Rising” is the theme of this international singing project, the focus of which is the performance of Handel’s Messiah in the Kammermusiksaal of the Philharmonie Berlin.

Resurrection of Georg Friedrich Händel

Handel’s Messiah premiered in 1742 and is among the most famous classical pieces. The Hallelujah Choir in particular is sure to be familiar to every choir singer. It’s not documented that Handel had a stroke before composing the Messiah. But he indeed had to handle several failures of other works before the great success of the Messiah.

Program
Language Version and Edition

Georg Friedrich Händel, Messiah, HWV 56
English Version
Edition of Carus Verlag, Vocal Score Carus 55.056/03, ISMN 979-0-007-09384-6

Soloists

Alessia Schumacher (Soprano)

Italian-German soprano Alessia Schumacher studied at the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin and Conservatori Superior del Liceu in Barcelona. A member of the Barock Vokal program in Mainz (2018/19), she previously studied violin in Como and holds degrees in Art History and Musicology from the University of Vienna. Alessia has received scholarships from DAAD, Luzia-Loeser Kulturfonds, and others. She won several international competitions, including 1st prize at the Concorso „Piero Boni“ (2017).

Operatic highlights include Mimì (La Bohème), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), and Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus). She debuted with the Berliner Philharmoniker (Suor Angelica, 2020) and collaborates with ensembles like Lautten Compagney. Alessia also performs oratorios, Lied recitals, and innovative projects blending genres.

Anja Simon (Alto)

Anja Simon studied musicology, German studies, and journalism in Mainz and Berlin. She is a certified church musician (C level) and a speech therapist. In 2006, she participated in the masterclass of the Berlin Radio Choir.

She performs both as a soloist and in various chamber music ensembles and choirs (RIAS Chamber Choir, Vocalconsort Berlin, Sirventes Berlin, among others), with a particular passion for early music and the performance of contemporary works. Anja has been involved in numerous premieres of contemporary compositions (by Mark Andre, Pascal Dusapin, Toshio Hosokawa, Matthias Kaul, Lucia Ronchetti, among others) and has sung under renowned conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sergiu Celibidache, Iván Fischer, René Jacobs, Simon Rattle, and Simone Young.

In addition to her work as a contralto, she practices as a speech therapist specializing in voice and sound therapy. She currently receives vocal training from Sophie Harmsen.

Christoph Eder (Tenor)

The Berlin-based tenor Christoph Eder is quickly establishing himself as a concert soloist and is also in demand as a member of internationally renowned ensembles. In the current season, he is making his solo debut at the Komische Oper (in Les Brigands) and the Berlin Philharmonie. He is currently completing his vocal training with Prof. Jörn Dopfer (Hamburg University of Music and Theatre). Masterclasses with Hans-Christoph Rademann and Scott Weir have provided valuable inspiration, as has his participation in the Balthasar Neumann Choir Academy and the Schola of the Berlin Radio Choir.

Eder regularly collaborates with ensembles such as CHORWERK RUHR, the Berlin Radio Choir, and SCHOLA HEIDELBERG, performing under renowned conductors like Kent Nagano, Kirill Petrenko, and Thomas Hengelbrock. In addition to his musical pursuits, the trained musicologist works as a freelance writer, contributing to institutions such as the Elbphilharmonie and the Konzerthaus Berlin.

Matthias Lika (Bass)

Baritone Matthias Lika, winner of the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in Berlin (concert category), was born in 1994 in Friedberg near Augsburg. Raised in a musical family, he received early vocal training from his father, Peter Lika, and performed with the Augsburger Domsingknaben. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the HMDK Stuttgart with Prof. Thilo Dahlmann.

He has collaborated with renowned baroque ensembles such as La Ciaccona, La Banda, and L’arpa festante, performing works like Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Monteverdi’s Vespers. Operatic highlights include roles in Händel’s Alessandro and Verdi’s La Traviata. Lika is a Live Music Now Augsburg scholar and received the City of Augsburg’s Arts Promotion Prize in 2021.

Christian Schmidt (Speaker)

L’Arpa Festante

Founded in 1983 and thus one of the most traditional ensembles for early music, L’arpa festante has earned an excellent reputation not only as a distinctive ensemble for the performance of instrumental works, but also as a partner of powerful choirs for baroque, classical and romantic choral-orchestral works. After the ensemble’s initial focus was on rediscovering works from the 17th and 18th centuries, the oratorio and symphonic repertoire of the Romantic period has also come to the fore in recent years. L’arpa festante features various ensemble sizes and is directed by Christoph Hesse.

Nicolas Fink
Conductor

Nicolas Fink, principal conductor of the WDR Radio Choir, has no reservations when it comes to sound development and the lively experience of choral music. As a music educator, he has been choir director of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Choir at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival since 2014. Since 2018, he has been the artistic director of the Swiss Youth Choir, a top national ensemble of young people of all backgrounds, where he supports talented singers and conductors.
He works with his ensembles on an equal footing, taking professional singing just as serious as non-professional singing.

Schedule of the project

SAT, APRIL 12, 2025
15:00 – 18:00 Choir and Piano Rehearsal 1 (all participants), Otto-Braun-Saal, Staatsbibliothek Berlin
18:30 – 21:00 Get-Together & Open Singing, Manifesto

SUN, APRIL 13, 2025
14:00 – 16:00 Choir and Piano Rehearsal 2 (all participants), Otto-Braun-Saal, Staatsbibliothek Berlin
16:30 – 17:40 Choir and Piano Rehearsal 3 (all participants), Otto-Braun-Saal, Staatsbibliothek Berlin
21:00 – 22:00 Concert “Händel & Orgel”, Luisenkirche

MON, APRIL 14, 2025
10:00 – 12:30 Choir and Piano Rehearsal 4 (all participants), Otto-Braun-Saal, Staatsbibliothek Berlin
19:30 – 21:40 Choir and Orchestra Rehearsal (all participants), Otto-Braun-Saal, Staatsbibliothek Berlin

TUE, APRIL 15, 2025
10:00 – 13:00 Dress Rehearsal at the Kammermusiksaal Philharmonie Berlin
18:30 Placement and acoustic check at the Kammermusiksaal Philharmonie Berlin
20:00 Concert MESSIAH | Kammermusiksaal Philharmonie Berlin

Overview of costs
for performers and friends

The participation fee for the four-day project and the concert is EUR 98.00 per participant.
Non-performing accompanying persons are offered a reduced participation fee of EUR 55.00 per person that includes access to all rehearsals, to the concerts of the fringe program and a ticket in the best category for the concert at the Philharmonie Berlin.

Hotel suggestions – Exclusively for performers

For the MESSIAH project, we have selected some hotels near the Philharmonie that offer special rates for participants.