Carnegie Hall

Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) was founded in 1997 based on the shared vision of a free and international ensemble dedicated to creating and sharing exceptional experiences in classical music. With its 45 core members from 20 different countries, MCO works as a nomadic collective of passionate musicians uniting for tours in Europe and around the world. The orchestra has, to date, performed in more than 40 countries across five continents. It is governed collectively by its management team and orchestra board; decisions are made democratically with the participation of all musicians.

MCO’s sound is characterized by the chamber-music style of ensemble playing among its alert and distinct musical personalities. The orchestra received its most significant artistic impulses from its founding mentor, Claudio Abbado, and Conductor Laureate Daniel Harding. As current artist partners, pianists Mitsuko Uchida and Leif Ove Andsnes and violinist Pekka Kuusisto inspire and shape the orchestra in long-term collaborations. Concertmaster Mark Steinberg regularly leads and directs the orchestra in chamber orchestra repertoire, while MCO’s longstanding collaboration with Artistic Advisor Daniele Gatti focuses on larger symphonic works.

The MCO musicians’ audience engagement initiatives include Feel the Music—which opens the world of music to deaf and hard-of-hearing children through workshops in schools and concert halls—and MCO Academy, through which the orchestra works with young musicians to provide a high-quality orchestral experience and a unique platform for international exchange.

MCO commenced its 2021–2022 global season with its annual residency at the Lucerne Festival, performing with Yuja Wang, followed by the world premiere of George Benjamin’s Concerto for Orchestra at the BBC Proms. Leif Ove Andsnes reunited with MCO after their acclaimed album Mozart Momentum 1785 (Sony Classical), immersing listeners in Mozart’s two most creative years. With Mitsuko Uchida, MCO tours across Europe and coast to coast in the US. Further season highlights include Les Adieux—a staged concert with Patricia Kopatchinskaja—and debuts by Igor Levit, Alina Ibragimova, and Elim Chan. 

One of the most revered artists of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, R. Schumann, and Beethoven, as well as a devotee of the piano music of Berg, Schoenberg, Webern, and György Kurtág. 

Ms. Uchida has enjoyed close relationships over many years with the world’s most renowned orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and, in the US, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra, with whom she recently celebrated her 100th performance at Severance Hall. She has worked closely with conductors who include Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, and Mariss Jansons. 

Since 2016, Ms. Uchida has been an artistic partner of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with whom she is currently engaged in a multi-season touring project in Europe, Japan, and North America. She also appears regularly in recital in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, New York, and Tokyo, and is a frequent guest at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival. 

Ms. Uchida records exclusively for Decca; her award-winning discography includes the complete Mozart and Schubert piano sonatas. She is the recipient of two Grammy Awards for Mozart’s concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra and an album of lieder with Dorothea Röschmann. Her recording of Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto with Pierre Boulez and The Cleveland Orchestra won the Gramophone Award for Best Concerto. 

Ms. Uchida is a founding member of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and director of the Marlboro Music Festival. She has received the Golden Mozart Medal from the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation and the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association. She has also been awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Wigmore Medal, and holds honorary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge universities. In 2009, she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire. 

Mark Steinberg is first violinist and founding member of the Brentano Quartet, in existence since 1992. With the quartet, he has performed in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as in Japan, China, Korea, Israel, and Colombia. The quartet is ensemble-in-residence at Yale University. It has recorded extensively and won many awards and competitions, including the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition, the inaugural Cleveland Quartet Award, and the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for best debut in the United Kingdom. 

Mr. Steinberg has often appeared in trio and duet concerts with pianist Mitsuko Uchida, with whom he presented the complete Mozart sonata cycle at London’s Wigmore Hall in 2001, with additional recitals in other cities. With Ms. Uchida, he has also recorded a group of Mozart sonatas for Philips Records. He has performed as a soloist with the London Philharmonia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Kansas City Camerata, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia (formerly Philadelphia Concerto Soloists), with conductors such as Kurt Sanderling, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Miguel Harth-Bedoya. 

Mr. Steinberg holds degrees from Indiana University and The Juilliard School, and has studied with Louise Behrend, Josef Gingold, and Robert Mann. He is currently on the violin faculties of the Manhattan School of Music and CUNY Graduate Center. Mr. Steinberg has served on quartet competition juries at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, and twice at the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg and the Naumburg International Violin Competition. He has taught at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Aspen Music Festival and School, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Taos School of Music, and has given master classes at the Eastman School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Mozarteum University Salzburg, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Amsterdam Conservatory, and Yellow Barn.