With a sea of signs reading “Welcome Sir Simon”, the citizens of Berlin welcomed Sir Simon Rattle as the head of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2002. The English tabloid “The Sun” even hailed him as “the victor” and added, somewhat clumsily: “Great Britain can be proud of its musicians – from him to the Spice Girls. Bravo, Simon.”

That was seven years ago. And the “Berliner” are so satisfied with their conductor that they just extended his contract: Sir Simon will remain as head of the orchestra until 2018. A great honor for him – after all, he’s in charge of a very self-confident orchestra, one that decides for itself who’s going to be their principal conductor.

Rattle has not only managed to transform the formerly poorly-organized ensemble into a foundation. More importantly, he has rejuvenated the image of this traditional orchestra in a big way, attracting a whole new type of audience. As a darling of the media who even once performed as a rapper together with twelve cellists, he embodies an unprecedented openness. Rattle’s popularity has grown even further through his “music for all” classes, his educational projects that are particularly aimed at schools in Berlin. The media called his multi-prize winning film “Rhythm is it”, which documents one of these projects, the “miracle of Treptow”. Around 250 children from four Berlin schools, almost all of whom had little experience with classical music, performed together in a fascinating and colorful dance project to Igor Stravinsky’s “Le Sacre du Printemps”. In 2007, the Berliner Philharmoniker and their music director were the first institution ever to become Inter­national UNICEF Ambassadors.

Rattle’s plans, however, to open the philharmonic hall during the day and turn it into a meeting point with music stores and restaurants, didn’t really take flight; there are at least though the “Lunch Concerts“ every Tuesday at 1.00 pm with a bite to eat and a bit of free chamber music into the bargain.

Rattle, who just received his 3rd Grammy, has said that music cannot really be talked about meaningfully in words; which is why he’d rather make it. The 2009/2010 season will feature 130 symphony concerts and two operas, the main emphasis being on the contrasting music styles of Brahms and Schönberg. In 2008, around 196,000 people attended concerts – representing 94% of total capacity.

Bravo Sir Simon!