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Sat, January 10, 2026 at 7:00 PM
ACADEMY CONCERT
Orchestra of the Barenboim-Said Akademie & Nabil Shehata
Pierre Boulez Saal
In the popular series of Academy Concerts, students of the Barenboim-Said Akademie introduce themselves to their audiences as part of their curriculum. As in previous seasons, the series includes two performances of the Akademie’s orchestra, which was founded by Daniel Barenboim in 2023. The following year, he named Nabil Shehata the orchestra’s artistic director. The German-Egyptian double bassist and conductor was an early member of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and later served as principal double bass with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Berliner Philharmoniker. He led the Philharmonie Südwestfalen as chief conductor from 2019 to 2024 and has been closely associated with the Barenboim-Said Akademie since 2019 as professor of double bass.
In the orchestra's second concert of the current season, the students will perform works by Ludwig van Beethoven, including the famous Triple Concerto—the soloists are Nathalia Milstein, who completed her studies with Sir András Schiff at the Barenboim-Said Akademie, and Mohamed Hiber and Astrig Siranossian, both long-time members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Artists
Conductor
Piano
Violin
Cello
Program
EVENT TIMELINE
artist biographies
Born into a German-Egyptian family, Nabil Shehata began his musical education as a double bass player, studying with Michinori Bunya at the University of Music in Würzburg and with Esko Laine at Berlin’s Hanns Eisler School of Music. He was awarded first prizes at several international competitions, including the ARD Music Competition in Munich, where he also received the audience award. After performing as principal double bass with the Staatskapelle Berlin from 2003 to 2004, he held the same position with the Berliner Philharmoniker until 2008. He served as principal double bass with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for more than ten years. Encouraged by Daniel Barenboim, among others, he began his career as a conductor in 2006, studying with Rolf Reuter, Lawrence Foster, and Christian Thielemann, and has since led major orchestras, including the Berlin Radio Symphony, the Munich Radio Orchestra, the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie Chemnitz, the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. He led the Munich Chamber Opera as music director for several years, holding the same position with the Philharmonie Südwestfalen from 2019 to 2024. Nabil Shehata has been closely associated with the Barenboim-Said Akademie as professor of double bass since 2019 and was named artistic director of its Orchestra in 2024. He also conducted the Filasteen Young Musicians Orchestra at the Pierre Boulez Saal in 2023.
Nathalia Milstein was born in 1995 to a family of musicians and received her first piano lessons from her father at the age of four. She went on to study with Nelson Goerner at Geneva’s Haute École de Musique and with Sir András Schiff at the Barenboim-Said Akademie, graduating in 2020. She received important guidance from musicians including Daniel Barenboim, Mikhail Voskressensky, Elena Ashkenazy, Enrico Pace, and Menahem Pressler. A winner of several competitions, she launched her international career with a first prize at the Dublin International Piano Competition in 2015. Since then, she has performed at major venues across Europe and in the U.S., including the Leipzig Gewandhaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, and Zankel Hall at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and made her debuts with the WDR Symphony, the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. She has also appeared at Heidelberger Frühling, the Lille Piano Festival, the Radio France Festival, the International Piano Festival La Roque d’Anthéron, La Folle Journée, and at Berlin’s Intonations Festival, and is a regular guest at the Pierre Boulez Saal. Nathalia Milstein has recorded several CDs, including two duo albums with her sister, violinist Maria Milstein. Her most recent recording Alla Schumann was released in 2025.
Mohamed Hiber grew up near Paris and studied violin with Ana Chumachenco at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid and at the Munich für Musik und Theater. He was a fellow of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and performs regularly with its ensemble, Mutter’s Virtuosi. He has been one of the concertmasters of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for several years, a position he also regularly takes on with the Munich Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra London, and Orchestre de Paris. As a soloist, he has performed with Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Leipzig’s MDR Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony, and the Czech Philharmonic, among others. A passionate chamber musician, Mohamed Hiber has performed with artists such as Daniel Barenboim, Yuri Bashmet, Martha Argerich, and Kian Soltani at the festivals in Salzburg and Lucerne, Beethovenfest Bonn, the Intonations festival in Berlin, and the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, among many other venues.
Cellist Astrig Siranossian studied at the Conservatoire in Lyon and with Ivan Monighetti at the Basel Music Academy. A winner of the Krzysztof Penderecki International Cello Competition, she has collaborated as a chamber musician and soloist with artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich, Sir Antonio Pappano, Bertrand Chamayou, and Daniel Ottensamer, among many others. She has appeared in concert at the Philharmonie de Paris, the Vienna Musikverein, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the KKL in Lucerne, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her discography includes acclaimed recordings of Krzysztof Penderecki’s and Aram Khachaturian’s cello concertos; Dear Mademoiselle, a tribute to Nadia Boulanger; and the album Invisibles featuring forgotten works by French composers Jean Cras, Pierre-Octave Ferroud, and Marcelle Soulage. Astrig Siranossian is artistic director of the festival Musicades in her hometown of Romans sur Isère, of the Adèle Clément Cello Festival im Department Drôme, and of the Nadia and Lili Boulanger Festival in Trouville-sur-Mer and has been teaching and the Paris Conservatoire since 2024. She plays a 1676 Ruggieri cello provided by Foundation Boubo-Music and an instrument made by Geinaro Gagliano in 1756. She has been heard at the Pierre Boulez Saal both as a soloist and frequently as a member of the Boulez Ensemble.
YOUR VISIT
How To Get There
Pierre Boulez Saal
Barenboim-Said Akademie
Französische Straße 33d
10117 Berlin
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Public Transport
U-Bahn U2 Hausvogteiplatz, U5 Museumsinsel, U6 Unter den Linden
S-Bahn S / U Friedrichstraße
Tram M1, 12 Mitte / Am Kupfergraben
Bus 147 Werderscher Markt; 100, 300, N5 Staatsoper
Bicycle
Bicycle racks are available on the street “Hinter der Katholischen Kirche.”
Car
Q-PARK parking garage Unter den Linden / Staatsoper
Bebelplatz 2
10117 Berlin
Theater rate (5.30 pm – 11.30 pm, paid in advance): €10
Please note there is a construction site across from the hall on Französische Straße. The street is narrowed, and cars or taxis are not allowed to stop in front of the Pierre Boulez Saal entrance.
Opening Hours
Box Office
Monday to Friday 2 pm to 6 pm
Closed on weekends and holidays
On performance days, the box office opens one hour prior to an event on weekdays and two hours on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
Papagena Call Center
Ticket hotline +49 30 4799 7411
Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm
Sunday and public holidays 2pm to 8pm
Food & Drinks
Casalot Catering welcomes Pierre Boulez Saal visitors before and after concerts, serving a variety of dishes of Arab cuisine.
On concert nights, the bar opens one hour before the start of an event and remains open after the performance. You may also place pre-orders for intermission right at the counter.
More informantion on our catering can be found here.
Coat Check
Small bags up to a maximum size of A4 (21x30 cm) and jackets may be taken into the concert hall. Luggage, helmets, large umbrellas, and other bulky items must be stored at the coat check.
The coat check is free and located behind the staircase in the foyer, on the left-hand side.
Accessibility
To book wheelchair-accessible seating, other seats for visitors with disabilities, or companion seats, please contact us directly.
+49 30 4799 7411
tickets@boulezsaal.de
All wheelchair seats are accessible by elevator. All visitors, including patrons using a wheelchair, will enter the Pierre Boulez Saal through the main entrance. Tickets will be checked at the hall doors.
In order to make access as easy as possible, we kindly ask that you inform us of your requirements when booking your tickets.
Restrooms for visitors with disabilities are located in the basement and on the balcony level and are accessible by elevator.
Four parking spaces for visitors with disabilities are available on the street Hinter der Katholischen Kirche.
