Friday, May 24 - Sunday, May 26, 2024

A global cultural capital that bears its 20th Century scars. A metropolis in flux whose only constant is hedonism. For its second international festival of music and food, Tertulia offers a springtime weekend in the heart of Europe: Berlin.

The gorgeous Château Royal serves as our home away from home in the German capital, offering impeccably designed rooms, refined service, outstanding food and drink and elegant common spaces just one block from Unter den Linden and a short walk to the Brandenburg Gate. 

A cast of world-class chamber musicians fills Berlin’s finest restaurants, cultural spaces and its leading coffee roastery across the city's best neighborhoods with engaging programs, offering a weekend of world-class culture, outstanding gastronomy and the chance to discover the best of the city over a long weekend.

The Itinerary

Friday, May 24 | 5:30PM

The festivities begin overlooking the Reichstag with a reception and performance on the rooftop of Chateau Royal. Following dinner at the hotel’s celebrated restaurant, Mendelssohn’s beloved String Quintet in B-flat Major fills the hotel’s Wintergarten; the evening concludes in Chateau Royal’s impeccably-designed bar, a Berlin fixture.

Program:

Bohuslav MARTINŮ Madrigal No. 1 for Violin and Viola

KOMITAS (arr. S. Aslamazian) Three Armenian Folksongs for String Quartet

Florence PRICE Adoration for Oboe and String Quartet

Felix MENDELSSOHN String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 87

Saturday, May 25 | 6PM

After a Saturday spent taking in the Brandenburg Gate or the TV Tower, shopping in Mitte or on the Ku’damm, or strolling the leafy streets of Prenzlauer Berg, we gather on the terrace of Remi, one of Berlin’s finest gastronomic addresses, for a folk music-inspired evening of fine dining and works of Arnold Bax, Antonín Dvořák and a few surprises along the way. 

Program:

Arnold BAX Quintet for Oboe and Strings

Antonín DVOŘÁK String Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 97

Sunday, May 26 | 11AM

Sunday morning finds us in Kreuzberg, worshipping at the altar of Berlin’s finest coffee roaster: Bonanza offers perfect flat whites, exceptional pastries and a lovely courtyard for an open-air performance of Mozart’s exquisite String Quintet in C Major. Enjoy a typically quiet German Sunday (shops are closed on Sundays!) wandering Kreuzberg, exploring Tempelhof Field, taking in the Soviet monuments in Treptower Park or walking preserved sections of the Berlin Wall.

Program:

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART String Quintet No. 3 in C Major, K. 515

Sunday, May 26 | 8:30PM

After choosing your own adventure in Berlin’s thriving, diverse dining scene, the bunker calls. The Boros Collection hosts Tertulia for bubbles, desserts and a series of late-night performances spread throughout an extraordinary World-War II-era bunker displaying one of Europe’s finest private art collections. As the sounds of Missy Mazzoli, Luciano Berio and Johann Sebastian Bach fill the cement rooms, we conclude our weekend immersed in music, art and history: the very facets of Berlin that make the city a singular cultural destination.

Program:

Missy MAZZOLI Enthusiasm Strategies for String Quartet

Luciano BERIO Sequenza VII for Oboe

Johann Sebastian BACH (arr. Sitkovetsky) Goldberg Variations (Selections)

The Artists

Five of Europe’s most celebrated chamber musicians join Tertulia’s Artistic Director for a series of lively programs filling four of the German capital’s finest eating, drinking and culture addresses. We invite you to join us for a weekend of music, food, art and culture you won’t soon forget. 

Seiji Okamoto and Thomas Reif, violin | Karolina Errera and Mathis Rochat, viola

Kristina Winiarski, cello | James Austin Smith, oboe and host