Season 2024-2025 "The unity of sound consists of many small, fragile parts"

Get to know Johan Stern, cellist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, his thoughts on music, and what he is particularly looking forward to perform in the 2024-2025 season.

It’s impossible to choose the piece I’m most looking forward to playing – there are so many! Among the new works, Ishjärta by Lisa Streich will be exciting. She has a gift for redefining both the sonic and conceptual aspects. And Anders Hillborg’s harmonic expanses open up a world of new dimensions of indefinable beauty.

Johan Stern, cello - säsong 2024-2025

Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 is a symphony of unearthly beauty where in each performance, you find yourself in the midst of the composer’s voice. Last time it was VÄGUS and Kim Phipps who delivered an incredible version, with the young choir singers in the fifth movement entering the hall singing “Be not afraid! Be prepared to live!”

And in Dudamel’s farewell concert in 2012, when we turned the last page, it felt as if someone ripped the heart out of my body.

In an intense rehearsal with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Herbert Blomstedt a few years ago, he suddenly said, “I am moved when I think about how everyone contributes to coming together – how lips form, hands grip, reeds vibrate, and strings are bowed; all to create music together.”

I often think about this quote in our constant pursuit of a collective result; that the unity of sound actually consists of many small, fragile parts. Perhaps it even symbolizes our lives together?

Johan Stern
Cello, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

Discover Johan's favourites

Man spelar på en cello i ett rött rum där tyg fladdrar runt honom

Set music to your life!

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Emirzeth Henriquez, violin - säsong 2024-2025

"To reveal beauty, I envision a dialogue"

Get to know Emirzeth Henriquez, violinist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and what she's particularly looking forward to perform in the 2024-2025 season.

Get to know Emirzeth
Fiol - Göteborgs Symfoniker

A crack where the light shines in

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Constantin Gerstein, fagott - säsong 2024-2025

"Beauty is when the orchestra is in perfect balance"

Get to know Constantin Gerstein, bassoonist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and what he's particularly looking forward to perform in the 2024-2025 season.

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Valthorn - säsong 2024-2025

Brave new world

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Lisa Ford, valthorn - säsong 2024-2025

"Intervals and tensions have a special effect on us."

Get to know Lisa Ford, French horn player in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and what she's particularly looking forward to perform in the 2024-2025 season.

Get to know Lisa
fagott på golvet med vita skynken och rött ljus i bakgrunden

A bridge over troubled water

Music can help us face reality, as it is and in all stages of life. Here you will find concerts for reflection, relaxation and community.

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Shared happiness is double happiness

Let the music fill you with power; power to enjoy and to give to others. Here you will find concerts to celebrate with, wherever you are in life.

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Man spelar på en cello i ett rött rum där tyg fladdrar runt honom

Set music to your life!

Choose a subscription in Gothenburg Concert Hall and get unforgettable experiences, a discounted ticket price, a seat at concerts that sell out quickly and your own seat in the hall. The concert magic you get for free.

Choose your subscription