The Orchestra

The Sinfonie Orchester Schöneberg,

SOS for short, was founded in 1993 by former students and it soon developed into one of Berlin's established amateur orchestras. Today we proudly look back on many successful concerts. People from all different professions sit together here, united by a passion for classical music. We are lucky to be able to work with very good and committed conductors at a high level. The highlight of each work phase is the performance in the Great Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie.

Our repertoire should be as versatile as possible and includes not only the great symphonies and solo concertos of the Classical and Romantic periods but also works by unknown and rarely heard composers. The selection of our solo concertos is increasingly determined by the fact that renowned musicians approach us who would like to play certain works with us. Since they all give concerts free of charge, we feel particularly honoured. Our long-time conductor Stanley Dodds also helped us to two rousing musical encounters with Sir Simon Rattle.

Any arising costs, such as concert hall rent, music lending, GEMA fees, etc., will be paid from our membership fees, concert income and your donations - which are by the way tax deductible. Since 2011 there is a cooperation agreement with the Friedensburg-Oberschule in Charlottenburg, whose students partly write our programme booklets. More recently, the Sinfonie Orchester Schöneberg has donated tickets to KulturLeben Berlin and to young refugees and supported the performance of the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra at the Konzerthaus in autumn 2016.

Our travels together allowed intensive musical experiences and many new impressions. We were able to establish new contacts and above all strengthen the connection between the musicians. Mexico (2000), Italy (2003), Greece (2008) and Flanders (2014) have been our destinations so far. A concert tour to Wales is planned for autumn 2019.

We thank all our conductors for providing us with their skills and time. Thanks also to all family members who do not play with us and who support their partners or parents in orchestral playing by doing without them for many evenings and some weekends. And finally, we thank our audience who has been loyal to us for so many years.