Berlin conductor Petrenko worried `no one needs us anymore’

By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press

Kirill Petrenko will lead the Berlin Philharmonic on its first U.S. tour in six years, conducting from Nov. 10-21 in New York, Boston, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Naples, Florida. Hired as music director for 2019-20, his first season was abruptly stopped by the coronavirus pandemic. He worried “no one needs us anymore.” Petrenko is Berlin’s fourth chief conductor in seven decades, following Herbert von Karajan (1954-89), Claudio Abbado (1989-02) and Simon Rattle (2002-18). Speaking in a rare interview, Petrenko says trying to have an impact on the orchestra ”will take at least five or six years more.”