Daniel Barenboim Awarded Honorary Roles at the Berlin State Opera

The 81-year-old Argentine conductor will receive honorary membership at the company he led for thirty years

Conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim has been awarded honorary membership of the Berlin State Opera and has also been appointed as honorary principal conductor of its Staatskapelle orchestra.

The conductor stood down from his position as General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera in January 2023, following a serious deterioration in his health in 2022. He had spent 30 years at the company's helm.

During his time there, Barenboim played a significant role, not just in the music world, but in German culture more broadly. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, he brought the company to international prominence. Then, in 2017, he pushed for a costly renovation of the opera house, which now has over 500 employees and a budget of over €81.4 million.

Barenboim continues to withdraw from conducting work as needed — and recently it was announced that he would be replaced by Daniel Harding at the Berliner Philharmoniker's Europakonzert in Georgia.

One of the foremost musicians of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Barenboim has held a number of prestigious directorships. Alongside Edward Said, he is the co-founder of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which promotes friendship and collegiality between Israel and the Arab nations.

"Daniel Barenboim is one of the greatest musicians of our time," said Matthias Schulz, the company's director. "What he has achieved not only for the Staatskapelle Berlin, but also for the institution of the State Opera Unter den Linden, the city of Berlin and the world of music over 30 years, is more than impressive."