On Valentine's weekend we said goodbye to Anja Bihlmaier as chief conductor of the Residentie Orkest. For four years she was associated with our orchestra. In recent years she has given countless wonderful and special concerts with us at home and abroad. Several symphonies by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Sibelius, Bruckner and Mahler were on the program there. She worked with violinists Bomsori Kim and Simone Lamsma, cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, clarinetist Annelien van Wauwe and pianist Yeol Eum Son, among others. Other highlights included Mahler's little-performed grand Second Symphony, Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique, Verdi's spectacular Requiem but also the Dutch premiere of Mayrhofer's Recycling Concerto with percussionist Vivi Vassileva and the world premiere of the accordion concerto written especially for the Residentie Orkest with Vincent van Amsterdam.

We thank her for the inspiring years and the beautiful music we brought to the stage together!