Highlights of 2025
The year 2025 was exceptionally intense and eventful, marked by concerts across continents, world premieres, recordings, and collaborations with renowned and immensely talented soloists, orchestras, and conductors, among many other undertakings.
But first things first.
Concert performances
In the year coming to a close, works by Baruch Berliner were performed 21 times in various parts of the world, including Israel, Canada, the USA, Croatia, Ecuador, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Germany. Five of Dr. Berliner’s new works premiered worldwide.
In March, the acclaimed violinist Haik Kazazyan performed the Jacob’s Dream violin concerto and the sonata fantasia of the same name in Toronto and Montreal, Canada. Later that month, the virtuoso violinist Nikita Boriso-Glebsky presented The Binding of Isaac concerto in Kaliningrad, Russia, together with the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor and Priznanie prize laureate Mikhail Kirchhoff. Closing out March events, Astana, Kazakhstan, hosted a performance of the Jacob’s Dream concerto for viola and orchestra by Andrey Gridchuk, the principal viola with the Deutche Oper Berlin, together with the Kazakh State Symphony orchestra under the baton of Mr. Kirchhoff.
In April, Dr. Berliner’s concerto for cello and string orchestra, “Jacob’s Dream,” was performed during a Croatian tour by Merited Artist of Russia cellist Boris Andrianov, percussionist Luis Camacho Montealegre, and the Zagreb Soloists string orchestra. The tour included concerts in four cities: Pula, Rijeka, Mali Lošinj, and Zagreb.
On 31 May, the new version of the Abraham oratorio for narrator, choir, organ, and orchestra had its world premiere in Moscow, Russia. The work had been expanded and arranged by the talented Russian composer Andrey Pospelov. The premiere featured a combined choir comprising seven ensembles from Moscow, Orenburg, and Baku—over 200 singers in total—under the direction of the legendary choirmaster Boris Tarakanov. The Grand Symphony Orchestra of Kosygin State University (Maimonides Academy), actor Anton Kukushkin, and Marina Omelchenko, chief organist at Moscow’s Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, lent distinction to the performance. The concert was hosted by actress Yulia Romanova-Kutina, the voice of Moscow’s public transport.
In August, the Jacob’s Dream violin concerto was performed by the brilliant violinist Jorge Saade in Guayaquil, Ecuador, together with the Guayaquil Municipal Philharmonic Orchestra. A month later, he presented the work in Orlando, USA, with the Orlando Symphony Orchestra.
In September, Mr. Gridchuk teamed up with the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra, led by Mr. Kirchhoff, to present the Jacob’s Dream concerto for viola and orchestra in Kaliningrad, Russia. A world premiere occurred later that month in Berlin—Mr. Gridchuk delivered the inaugural performance of the sonata fantasia for viola and piano, “Jacob’s Dream,” in the company of eminent pianist Mikhail Mordvinov on September 13 and 14 in Berlin, Germany.
From September through December, a series of concerts was held across Israel. On September 18, the world premiere of Dr. Berliner’s symphonic poem, “The Binding of Isaac,” for narrator, tenor, baritone, and orchestra was presented by the Rishon LeZion Israeli Symphony Orchestra in its home city. On October 24 in Be’er-Sheva, the world premiere of the Jacob’s Dream symphonic poem took place. On November 5 and 6, the Ra’anana Symphony Orchestra, together with cellist and Tel Aviv University professor Hillel Zori of the Buchmann–Mehta School of Music performed the Jacob’s Dream concerto for cello and orchestra. On December 6, at the Eden-Tamir Music Center in Jerusalem, another world premiere took place: internationally renowned musicians Oksana Yablonskaya (piano) and Grammy nominee Dmitry Yablonsky (cello) gave the first performance of sonata fantasia No. 2,” Abraham,” for piano and cello.
On December 3, as part of the Concordia 15th Sofia Gubaidulina International Festival of Contemporary Music, the Jacob’s Dream concerto was performed in an arrangement for violino piccolo and orchestra. The work was presented by violinist Grigory Sedukh and the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Tatarstan under the baton of its artistic director and principal conductor Alexander Sladkovsky.
Studio recordings
In May, one of Russia’s oldest symphony ensembles, the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra, led by Mr. Kirchhoff, recorded the instrumental parts of the Jacob’s Dream and The Binding of Isaac symphonic poems.
In December, the instrumental part of the Abraham oratorio was recorded at the legendary Mosfilm studio, featuring the Moscow Conservatory Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its artistic director and principal conductor, Associate Prof. Vyacheslav Valeev.
In June and November, texts for the German-language rendition of the Genesis symphonic poem were recorded, with the iconic German rock musician and former OOMPH! lead vocalist Dero Goi assuming the role of narrator.
YouTube channel and the project’s website
In 2025, 45 new videos were released on Baruch Berliner’s YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@baruchberliner9912. The channel received approximately 1,000,000 views over the year, with its total view count approaching 7,000,000.
In 2025, we also launched a RuTubeRuTube channel to make the composer’s music more accessible in countries where YouTube is restricted.
Traffic to the project’s website, www.berlinersgenesis.com, more than doubled over the year, reaching 13,000 unique visitors.
El Maleh Rachamim: A Holocaust victims’ remembrance project
In 2025, new participants joined the El Maleh Rachamim Holocaust victims’ remembrance project.
“El Maleh Rachamim” is a composition and soundtrack for the film Address on the Wall, which recounts the World War II tragedy at Babi Yar. The work was created by Dr. Berliner, Nachum Slutzker, and Sergey Krutsenko (RIP), based on the traditional Jewish prayer for the deceased. Various performers and orchestras present their own renditions of the composition for this project, paying tribute to all those who perished in the Holocaust. This year, different artists delivered multiple live reinterpretations of “El Maleh Rachamim.” Several music videos were also produced specifically for the project.
Actor Dmitry Braumonas, singer Anastasia Kulagina, and renowned bass-baritone Denis Sedov each recorded a video of their performance of the vocal version of “El Maleh Rachamim.” The Israeli ensemble Total Vocal recorded a reworked version of the composition.
For the first time, an orchestral version, expanded and arranged by composer Andrey Pospelov, was presented to the public. Soloists of the Israeli Ballet, Vladimir Dorokhin and Katerina Pisetski Karni, reinterpreted “El Maleh Rachamim” as a dance work.
Miscellaneous
Violinist Grigory Sedukh—the only violinist in the world to play the unique next-generation violino piccolo—and pianist Natalia Erte won the gold medal at the Art Excellence Awards for their recording of Dr. Berliner’s Jacob’s Dream sonata fantasia. The Art Excellence Awards, organized by the International Academy of Contemporary Art, is Russia’s foremost competition in terms of participating countries. It brings together artists from five continents and over 100 nations, making it a significant event in the international art scene.
Alexandra Makarevich’s book The Biblical Narrative of Jacob’s Dream in Visual Art, written specifically for Baruch Berliner’s Genesis International Project, was translated into English, typeset, and is ready for publication.
We sincerely thank our listeners and partners for their collaboration and genuine love of music, wishing you a happy 2026!