Mohammad Reza Mortazavi (born in Isfahan/Iran in 1978) is considered by many as the world’s best Tombak player. He won the annual Iranian Tombak competition for six times, he developed over 30 new striking and finger techniques and revolutionized the traditional way of playing.

At the age of 22 the musician travelled to Germany for the first time and performed with great success in Munich. In 2003 he received the German World Music Award RUTH in the newcomers’ category. 2011 he was invited to Europe’s most important World Music Fair – WOMEX 11 in Copenhagen. He also played at venues such as the World Music Festival in Shanghai, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Philharmonie Cologne, at the Philharmonie in Berlin and he released several CDs.

Mortazavi presents his music both solo and in international projects with other musicians as well as producers, theatres and dancers – one example out of many has been his co-operation with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen in 2015.

Primacanta – every child’s voice – is a Music Education training programme which shows how good quality musical education can be anchored in primary schools. Good quality music lessons are not yet on offer to all children, not least because of shortage of professionals. This is why Primacanta is continually working to create teachers whose role it is to help children discover their own voices and thereby develop confidence in their own musical abilities.

The Junge Deutsche Philharmonie unites excellent Young musicians from German-language music academies, selected through auditions, and forms them into a musically demanding ensemble. It is part of the democratic constitution of the orchestra that its musicians serve on numerous committees. Members of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie thus acquire qualifications that go beyond musical performance. The orchestra members meet several times a year for concentrated rehearsal periods, followed by international concert tours. With its own festival FREISPIEL, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie has also made ist mark on cultural life in Frankfurt, offering cross-genre and experimental Event formats.

Today, former members of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie play in the leading orchestras and hold chairs at music academies. Another lasting influence is exerted through the other ensembles which grew out of the orchestra, for example the Ensemble Modern and Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen, the Ensemble Resonanz or the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.

The Junge Deutsche Philharmonie works regularly with internationally renowned artists. Since July 2014, Jonathan Nott has taken over from Lothar Zagrosek as „Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser“.

In addition, the Berlin Philharmonic invites the orchestra each year to the Philharmonie in Berlin, where its concerts are broadcast live from the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall.