NEW LEADERSHIP TEAM AT THE PIERRE BOULEZ SAAL
Kirsten Dawes and Kurt Danner Appointed Interim Co-Directors
Just before the summer break, the Pierre Boulez Saal is restructuring its leadership: effective immediately, Kirsten Dawes and Kurt Danner will assume interim leadership as Co-Directors. Both bring many years of experience in senior positions within the institution to their new roles. Since the Pierre Boulez Saal’s opening, Kirsten Dawes has been responsible for the hall’s artistic planning and has played a key role in shaping the venue’s musical profile. Kurt Danner has headed the Marketing and Sales Department since 2019. Their first season together as interim Co-Directors will also coincide with a special milestone: in spring 2027, the Pierre Boulez Saal will celebrate its tenth anniversary.
Ole Bækhøj, Kirsten Dawes and Kurt Danner | Photo: Jakob Tillmann
Daniel Barenboim: “It is a strong statement that we were able to fill these positions from within our own team. Kirsten Dawes and Kurt Danner have played a major role in shaping the artistic activities of the Pierre Boulez Saal for many years. I am delighted that they have agreed to continue guiding its development in their new roles.”
Kirsten Dawes: “Almost ten years ago, I joined the Pierre Boulez Saal to work on the hall’s artistic planning, and three years ago I took over the position of artistic director. Bringing a new concert hall to life through its programming has been uniquely rewarding from the very beginning. Taking on the interim leadership role to me is a natural next step. I would like to thank Daniel Barenboim and Ole Bækhøj for their trust over the years, and I am very pleased to share this new responsibility with Kurt Danner.”
Kurt Danner: “I would like to thank Daniel Barenboim and Ole Bækhøj for the trust they have placed in us. I greatly value the diversity and exceptional quality of the programming at the Pierre Boulez Saal. Our profile is distinctive and a significant factor in our success with audiences. This includes various cooperations such as those with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. We aim to further developing these collaborations in the years ahead. With excitement and enthusiasm, Kirsten Dawes and I look forward to the challenge of preserving the successful trajectory of the Pierre Boulez Saal and further developing it through our shared leadership.”
Ole Bækhøj Appointed CEO of the Daniel Barenboim Foundation
Ole Bækhøj, who had served as Director of the Pierre Boulez Saal since 2015, took over the position of CEO of the Daniel Barenboim Foundation in March of this year. He was elected unanimously by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. With Bækhøj, the Foundation has gained an experienced musician and arts administrator as its leader.
Daniel Barenboim: “I have known Ole Bækhøj for more than a decade now and have been deeply impressed by his work at the Pierre Boulez Saal, which under his leadership has become one of the world’s most important chamber music venues.”
Ole Bækhøj: “I am very grateful for the confidence placed in me by the Board of Trustees. Mutual understanding and dialogue through music are guiding principles that have united all projects of the Daniel Barenboim Foundation and the Pierre Boulez Saal since its founding. Sharing the same location on Französische Straße in Berlin has long fostered close personal, organizational, and artistic collaboration between the institutions. I look forward to further strengthening this cooperation and unlocking new artistic synergies as a result.”
Kirsten Dawes | Photo: Jakob Tillmann
Kirsten Dawes was born in South Africa and read Musicology and German Studies at the University of Cape Town as well as Holocaust History at Uppsala University in Sweden. She moved to Germany in the early 2000s to continue her studies, focusing on the history of musicology in the Third Reich. Her freelance work has included projects with the Berliner Philharmoniker, where she collaborated with Catherine Milliken on the “Zukunft@BPhil” education initiatives. She subsequently worked for two years as project manager at Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. In 2008 she joined the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen as tour manager, later becoming Head of the Touring Department and a member of the programming committee. From 2015 to 2016 she was responsible for the artistic planning of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and for the festival’s overall program. Since 2016 she has been part of the Pierre Boulez Saal team, initially as Head of Artistic Operations and, since 2023, as Artistic Director. In addition, she has served as a juror for numerous chamber music competitions.
Kurt Danner, born in Linz, Austria, studied music in Vienna and completed additional training in business administration at the Fernuniversität Hagen. He began his career at IMZ – International Music + Media Centre, where he organized international conferences as project and communications manager and was responsible for programming the open-air film festival on Vienna’s Rathausplatz. From 2009 to 2016 he was head of marketing and communications for the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. During this period, milestones included the launch of the orchestra’s own record label and the inauguration of Philippe Jordan as music director. He subsequently founded BELLEVUE Virtual Media, a company specializing in virtual reality applications, virtual concert halls, and immersive content productions, while also undertaking freelance work as a PR and communications consultant for projects including the drafting of a feasibility study for a concert hall project in the municipality of Attersee, Austria. He also served as advisor to BTHVN2020 Bonn, the company for the Beethoven anniversary, in 2018. He has been Head of Marketing and Sales at the Pierre Boulez Saal since 2019.
Kurt Danner | Photo: Jakob Tillmann
Ole Bækhøj | Photo: Jakob Tillmann
Ole Bækhøj has been Executive Director and CEO of the Daniel Barenboim Foundation in Berlin since March 2026. He previously served as director of the Pierre Boulez Saal from its inception in 2015. Born in Denmark, he studied double bass in Aarhus and Amsterdam and pursued management studies at the AVT Business School in Copenhagen. After performing as a bassist for several years, including with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he was appointed General Manager of the London-based Gabrieli Consort and Players in 2001. He subsequently worked as Artistic and Executive Director of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra from 2008 to 2012, where he oversaw the opening of the new concert hall in Copenhagen, and as Chief Executive of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Berlin.
