The Cottbus State Theatre Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Alexander Merzyn will give the World Premiere of Insomnia next month, a brand-new orchestral work by Søren Nils Eichberg. Commissioned by Staatstheater Cottbus, the premiere performance takes place on 2 October 2026 and is repeated on 4 October 2026.
In his programme note, the composer writes:
Night as intensified lucidity. Exhausted yet wide awake. Inner agitation, fragile clarity. A landscape of flickering thoughts; emerging, floating, dissolving. Like the strange, otherworldly light of the polar night. Time is suspended as sounds and impulses appear and disappear. Darkness itself begins to glow.
Insomnia is the latest addition to Søren Nils Eichberg's extensive orchestral catalogue which includes orchestral suites, three symphonies, cello-, double cello-, piano-, horn- and violin concertos as well as a concerto grosso. His viola concerto Charybdis was recently released on Dacapo Records and was quickly selected for Gramophone's Editor's Choice.
Next up is his Violin Concerto 'Clair-obscur', written for Hilary Hahn, which will see its World Premiere on 26 May 2027 with Hilary Hahn, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and conductor John Storgårds in Ottawa, Canada. Hilary Hahn won a GRAMMY for her Deutsche Grammophone-album In 27 Pieces which included her Eichberg commission, Levitation.
Details
2 October 2026
Søren Nils Eichberg: Insomnia
Cottbus State Theatre Philharmonic Orchestra
Alexander Merzyn, conductor
Staatstheater Cottbus, Germany
4 October 2026
Søren Nils Eichberg: Insomnia
Staatstheater Cottbus, Germany
Cottbus State Theatre Philharmonic Orchestra
Alexander Merzyn, conductor
