Creative Chair in Zurich and Opus Klassik

With the 2026/27 season, Dieter Ammann takes up a key role as Creative Chair of the Tonhalle Zürich. Ammann is regarded as one of the most significant contemporary Swiss composers. Audiences encounter his multi-faceted tonal language in numerous orchestral and chamber music concerts – performed by outstanding performers on the international classical music scene such as Paavo Järvi, Carolin Widmann, Gianandrea Noseda and Cristian Măcelaru. Ammann’s music is the result of an interplay between a variety of sound and performance situations. The first concert is on 16 September 2026 – a performance of the orchestral work “BOOST” with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, conducted by music director Paavo Järvi. Ammann says of this work: “A symphonic sound is heard, gains the upper hand, is broken by extreme high frequencies and noise” – until “just a fading pulsing remains in which the piece ends.

Dieter Ammann has been honoured furthermore with the OPUS KLASSIK award as “Composer of the Year”. OPUS KLASSIK is regarded as Germany’s most prestigious award for classical music, recognising outstanding artists and exceptional productions. With his orchestral work “glut”, Ammann impressed the expert jury, successfully prevailing in this category.

Describing the idea behind his award-winning work, he speaks of “a world whose inner glow, shaped into sound, pushes outward.” The greatest possible variety of musical material is employed to illuminate the “orchestral body of sound” from different perspectives and to realise this acoustic vision. The result is a constantly evolving topography of sonic phenomena, held together dramaturgically on the one hand through anticipations and recollections of musical events, and on the other through “static” harmonic fields. Due to their temporal duration, some of these fields function as caesuras—making the formal progression more tangible, much like cadences do in major-minor tonal music.

The award ceremony will take place in Berlin on 10 and 11 October 2026.

In addition, Bärenreiter will publish the biography „Der Klang ist die Geschichte. Dieter Ammann und seine Musik“ (author: Felix Diergarten) in the fall. This book will offer a wealth of insights into Dieter Ammann’s musical œuvre.