Bryce Dessner will be kept busy throughout the coming year, and having joined Konzerthaus Berlin as their composer-residence his season is already well underway. On September 5 the orchestra, led by Joana Malwitz, performed Dessner's Piano Concerto with their artist-in-residence, pianist Alice Sara Ott for whom the concerto was written. Throughout the year the residency will dive into Dessner’s catalogue with a special ‘Bryce Dessner and Friends’ concert, plus various events and performances of his other works.
From January 2026 he will double up and take on another composer residency with the Czech Philharmonic, with a performance of St Carolyn by the Sea which Jakob Hrusa will conduct.
The season will also host the world premieres of several new works all around the world. Dessner's Trembling Earth will have its first performance in Dublin where André de Ridder will conduct the National Symphony Orchestra and soloist Anastasia Kobekina. The cello concerto will then be performed internationally by the Czech Philharmonic, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and more.
Meanwhile Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton sees the world premiere of Bryce Dessner’s new work Love, Icebox on December 12, a conceptually staged programme with dramaturgy and electronics, based on excerpts of the letters from John Cage to Merce Cunningham and incorporating Cage's own composition techniques. Actress Isabelle Huppert and pianist Alice Sara Ott star in this unique work, which is programmed in conjunction with the foundation’s major retrospective of painter Gerhard Richter, upon whom John Cage was a significant influence.
So Percussion will then give the world premiere of a co-commission with Carnegie Hall and Cal Performances in January in a work which features the electric guitar-like "chord stick" invented for them by Dessner several years ago.
Additionally, two new works for solo cello feature on the forthcoming album from Gautier Capuçon. Towards the Forestand Towards the Light, can be heard on Gaia, out November 7 on Warner Classics/Erato.
Dessner’s notable presence in the world of film music continues this autumn with the release of the anticipated film, Train Dreams, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The score will be released in November 2025 at the time the film receives its premiere on Netflix.
Stay tuned for more updates as we settle into the season ahead!
