Anna Handler

The German-Colombian pianist and conductor will be Artist in Residence at the Beethoven House Bonn during the 2026/27 concert season which will mark the 200th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s death. Anna Handler’s residency at the Beethoven House is part of a comprehensive Beethoven focus in the work of the musician, born in 1996, with her various orchestras in the coming months, including the Ulster Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

Anna Handler is the designated principal conductor of the BBC Ulster Orchestra, music director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and, until August 2026, assistant conductor at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She was previously a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She was the first female conductor ever to receive the prestigious Kovner Fellowship from The Juilliard School in New York, where she completed her master’s degree in 2023.

As a chamber musician, she is the founder and director of the ensemble Enigma Classica. She also forms a successful instrumental duo with her sister.

Handler grew up in Munich and initially studied piano and conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich before continuing her studies at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar, the Accademia Pianistica Internazionale di Imola and the Folkwang University of the Arts. She completed her master’s degree in conducting at the Juilliard School in New York in May 2023. At Juilliard, she was the first conductor ever to receive the prestigious Kovner Fellowship.