{"id":504428,"date":"2026-06-17T14:04:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:04:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/504428\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:04:22","slug":"meet-the-30-year-old-whos-the-ulster-orchestras-new-principal-conductor-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/504428\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the 30-year-old who\u2019s the Ulster Orchestra\u2019s new principal conductor \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a bit of a buzz around the Ulster Orchestra<\/a>, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Many of its long-serving musicians have been replaced by a younger generation of players, a changed demographic that is illustrated by the appointment of an exciting new chief conductor.<\/p>\n

She is Anna Handler, the 30-year-old daughter of German and Colombian parents, who was born on the C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur, in the south of France<\/a>, and grew up in Munich<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Highly respected both as a conductor and a pianist, she was awarded the prestigious Maria Ladenburger music prize in 2020, when her playing was described by one of the adjudicators, Val\u00e9rie Gross of Deutsche Grammophon, as \u201ccaptivating … She lives her music … She makes it entirely her own\u201d.<\/p>\n

Such an appraisal is easy to believe. In conversation, Handler exudes a joyous, sparky yet thoughtful gravity, coupled with a profound sense of responsibility for her role at the helm of an ensemble that has long been a cornerstone of Northern Ireland\u2019s cultural life.<\/p>\n

She joins a succession of distinguished principal conductors: Bryden Thomson, Vernon Handley, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Thierry Fischer, Kenneth Montgomery, JoAnn Falletta, Rafael Payare and, most recently, the charismatic Daniele Rustioni<\/a>, who, since leaving in May 2024, has been appointed the orchestra\u2019s music-director laureate.<\/p>\n

Handler\u2019s contract is initially for a three-year tenure, with the option to extend if all goes well. The organisation\u2019s artistic director and deputy chief executive, Patrick McCarthy, a former principal trumpet with the orchestra, declares himself thrilled by the appointment. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to get started,\u201d he says. \u201cAnna and I have spoken regularly and at length, planning the forthcoming season and putting in place her thoughts for future programming.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve found her to be a deeply thoughtful person who has spent time with several of the great conductor-thinkers. Their influence is very evident. She has drawn down so much stuff from them, distilled it, and is now ready to make her own mark. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Conductor Daniele Rustioni says a fond goodbye to the Ulster Orchestra: \u2018Some of the music was fantastic \u2013 it touched heaven\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cShe will find here an orchestra that is eager, responsive and, above all, curious about different directions in which we can move. The shared appetite for risk, for taking chances, is greater now than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handler studied piano and conducting at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich, furthering her studies in Germany and the United States before completing a master\u2019s degree in conducting at the Juilliard School in New York. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Ulster Orchestra is celebrating its 60th anniversary <\/p>\n

She has since performed and conducted across the world and is currently juggling the roles of kapellmeister with Deutsche Oper in Berlin, assistant conductor at Boston Symphony Orchestra and artist-in-residence for the 2026-27 season of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.<\/p>\n

When those roles conclude, she says, she\u2019ll be well placed to stamp her identity on the orchestra\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a very intense life at the moment,\u201d Handler says. \u201cThis is a big job, but every leading position is a serious responsibility. As chief conductor I have the chance to gather my thoughts, to build something together, to dive deep into repertoire and find out what is important to me, what is important to the orchestra, what works and what doesn\u2019t. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome conductors work in detail on every bowing and every voicing; others allow players to have their own freedom. I\u2019m a mix. I really appreciate different opinions, and I\u2019m always eager to learn and to explore different points of view, but I like to come in with a pretty exact way of hearing the piece inside me.<\/p>\n

I really liked to see in their eyes a lot of youthful energy and open-mindedness<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Anna Handler<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have done enough research to know, for instance, that the climax comes here, or the motor is in the violas right now or, when things are written twice, say for the violas and the bassoon, I might want to hear the bassoon more. That\u2019s my interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy says that the orchestra\u2019s search for a replacement for Rustioni, which started some months before his departure, was far from easy.<\/p>\n

\"PrincipalPrincipal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra Anna Handler is respected both as a conductor and a pianist. Photograph: Peter Rigaud <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been two years without a chief conductor, and that has been quite destabilising,\u201d he says. \u201cIn terms of the orchestra\u2019s identity, our visibility, our brand, it feels a bit rickety without a nexus of players and a conductor working together to forge a house style.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also been quite exhausting for the orchestra, playing under a series of guest conductors and wondering if this is going to be one. We put together a concert in Derry for Anna, which included Haydn\u2019s Symphony No 49. It was the best Haydn I have ever heard, anywhere. The orchestra loved it straight away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handler\u2019s feelings about that concert chime with McCarthy\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I stood in front of the orchestra for the first time, I was so happy that they were willing to give the Haydn a go, to find its burning energy,\u201d she says. \u201cUnderstanding the development of that energy is very important, making every note meaningful and alive, as if speaking. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m interested in how different people live their lives and how life can be lived<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Anna Handler<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like in a group of people: every note and every voice represents a character. Some may be more introvert, others more eager to speak. You need to understand these different nuances, because every piece has a different temperament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came in with no big expectations. I was very confident in terms of what I believed in, because I had done these works before. I had a relationship with them. I could stand up for them. I think it\u2019s good when you come and do not try to please or be liked but just be yourself and show what you believe in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was a case of: \u2018This is what I would like to hear and what I think we can get out of these pieces, together.\u2019 I really liked to see in their eyes a lot of youthful energy and open-mindedness. Several of the principals are young, and I felt in them a real desire to work, to get to a high level.<\/p>\n

Handler says she has had a lot of input into the programming and all her programmes \u201chave my signature on them\u201d. \u201cI thought carefully about the repertoire that I have now, the repertoire that I would like to acquire, and what this orchestra needs at this moment. This is its 60th-anniversary season, which is worth a celebration.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeethoven\u2019s 200th anniversary is coming up, so I will conduct the opening concert in September, with Beethoven 9, and, in October\u201d \u2013 during Belfast International Arts Festival \u2013 \u201cBeethoven 7, together with Aaron Copland\u2019s Appalachian Spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handler also says she\u2019s excited to explore Bruckner 6 next season, paired with Brahms\u2019s Violin Concerto. She added that audiences would also hear \u201cyoung voices like Grace-Evangeline Mason\u201d and other composers, whom she plans to include.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Composer Ail\u00eds N\u00ed R\u00edain: \u2018Because I\u2019m not bringing full hearing to any situation, I rely on other tools\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

During the coming season, \u201cJohn Adams turns 80 and Steve Reich turns 90,\u201d she says. \u201cJohn Adams has become my mentor, and I want to bring him to conduct in Belfast. Steve Reich will be represented in the closing concert in May, together with Stravinsky\u2019s The Rite of Spring, so that will be a very special night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the opening concert, we are bringing in choirs of young people, which is especially important for me. I can\u2019t wait to hear them. As well as the Beethoven, you will hear the overture from Brahms\u2019s Academic Festival, which was written when he received his honorary doctorate from Breslau University and incorporates student songs, and drinking songs. And we will have Benjamin Britten\u2019s Young Apollo, which will be played by Senan Sheridan, a talented young pianist from Belfast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about all this because it means we can make connections together. I like it when there\u2019s a unified message. That\u2019s a big part of my daily thinking. If we want to have young people in the audience, then we should have young people participating on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handler grew up in a family of music lovers. Her father is an engineer; her mother is involved in art. She says they supported \u201cevery lesson and every little concert\u201d that she and her sister, the violinist Laura Handler<\/a>, took part in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a curious child,\u201d Handler says. \u201cI used to ask my Colombian and German grandfathers to share their stories, to tell me about their ways of thinking, how they achieved their successes \u2013 one was a doctor, the other an entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested in how different people live their lives and how life can be lived. When I left school I told my parents that I wanted to be self-employed and make my own path. When I was 17, I founded my own orchestra. It was an early sign of my independence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am, of course, very curious about the people and the landscape of Northern Ireland. Last time I was here I walked all around Belfast and went to the Giant\u2019s Causeway. And I\u2019ve started watching Game of Thrones!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ulster Orchestra<\/a>\u2019s 2026-27 season begins on Friday, September 25th; tickets go on sale on Friday, June 19th<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a bit of a buzz around the Ulster Orchestra, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Many of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4501,215483,93,631,61,60,215482,42415],"class_list":["post-504428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-belfast","tag-daniele-rustioni","tag-entertainment","tag-for-you","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ulster-orchestra","tag-your-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}