Our composer in residence in conversation with Tobias Rempe 

With music being kind of its own world of expression and language, we can say so many things that are much harder to say in other art forms or in everyday life. Making music brings us together. It sounds simple when I say it, but especially nowadays, with all the conflicts in the world, it feels even more urgent.  

The United States is a very complicated place. It's quite tragic how recent events have unfolded there. We are entering a very dangerous phase in the US, which I think Europe has known at other times in history. Probably the hardest thing to watch is to see the very basic American fundamental right of freedom of speech currently under attack. As artists, our duty is to speak the truth and to be honest. Politicians are now attacking the role and the space of art in culture. It's extremely dangerous, I think. But the role of culture and creativity has become even more important under this kind of threat.  

I am very aware of the music that is already there, of many examples of incredible creativity: Think about the Beethoven quartets, or Mozart or Brahms. They are absolute pinnacles of human expression. When you're a composer today, you're in conversation with the past, but you're also shining a light on the present and the future.   

Alice wrote me asking for it, which was wonderful because I knew her playing and I've been a fan of her work. She's an extremely open-minded pianist with incredible technically skills and, what is even more important, a very profound artist. She didn't say what I had to do, but trusted me from the beginning. The piece has become a kind of portrait of Alice. I've been imagining the qualities in her playing, especially the lyricism, and trying to find things that can challenge and inspire her. It's almost like each time she plays she's finding some sort of window in the music that no one else opened. I was selfishly hoping she would do that with my music. And I think she has.  

Anastasia recorded music for my recent solo album, and we developed a fast musical friendship. I think she is almost 20 years younger than me, incredibly curious, wildly creative, technically the highest possible level - and a huge Radiohead fan, which I found both surprising and wonderful. As for the cello concerto: having written several concertos for different instruments, I really wanted to write something closer to a tone poem, a cello symphony, a piece that is a poetic journey.  

A new frontier I'd be really excited about would be to work in a more theatrical setting with classical singers or great poets. Being at Konzerthaus for a season is also new territory. I take it in the most humble and open way. It's a form of collaboration as well as a chance for me to bring something to this place and learn from the Berlin audience. I hope to create moments that are enriching as well as challenging and bring peace and happiness to the people who come to listen.