The Berliner Philharmoniker, founded in 1882, is the epitome of musical excellence worldwide and inspires its audience with its quality and its passion on stage. In addition to the diverse concert activities in Berlin, the Berliner Philharmoniker often performs in the most renowned concert halls in the world. In the first decades, Hans von Bülow, Arthur Nikisch and Wilhelm Furtwängler were the defining chief conductors, followed by Herbert von Karajan from 1955. He developed a unique sound aesthetic and playing culture with the Berliner Philharmoniker that made the orchestra famous worldwide. From 1989 to 2002, Claudio Abbado as chief conductor created a new approach to programming, particularly with regard to contemporary compositions. Sir Simon Rattle continued to broaden the repertoire and established innovative concert formats from 2002 to 2018. Kirill Petrenko has been chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2019. The programmatic focal points of his tenure are the Classical and Romantic repertoire, Russian music and unjustly forgotten compositions.