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Teodor Currentzis Launches His Own Label

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Conductor Teodor Currentzis has created his own label to record the vast repertoire performed by his various ensembles, starting with Utopia. The label is named Theta, the letter Θ in the Greek alphabet, after Teodor Currentzis’ Greek origins.

Imagine the best musicians from all over the world, from Japan to Brazil, from Denmark to Turkey — top-ranked soloists and concertmasters from the largest orchestras — gathered together. Dedicated to their work, these high-class professionals immerse themselves in the creative and experimental process with the utmost determination and trepidation in order to realise their dream of perfect sound. You may say it is a utopia. Yet this utopia has become a reality, as Teodor Currentzis has brought together several hundred of the finest musicians from dozens of countries to form the Utopia Choir and Orchestra.

Since October 2022, when the orchestra went on its first tour, the musicians have presented six programs in the world’s largest concert halls: Berlin Philharmonic, the Elbphilharmonie, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the Athens Concert Hall Megaron, Wiener Konzerthaus, MÜPA Budapest, and Santa Cecilia Hall in Rome, among others. The Utopia Choir and Orchestra are regularly invited to the Salzburg Festival. Currentzis’ meticulous approach — whether to early music, the romantic repertoire, or modern compositions — is based on the desire to comprehend the composer’s intention as thoroughly as possible, challenging traditional interpretations. For Currentzis, each recording is a large-scale research project carried out with an uncompromising demand for quality and a perfectionist pursuit of excellence. With such an approach, working on a production may take many months or years, but each one becomes a unique handcrafted piece of work.

The first releases on this new label will be devoted to Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, both due for release in 2025. The recordings were made during extensive sessions at the orchestra’s creative residence at Funkhaus Berlin, a studio complex with outstanding acoustic capabilities. To mark the launch of the label and to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth on 4 September 2024, Theta will release the Scherzo from Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 exclusively on Apple Music on August 30. In the coming months, other new releases will be announced and a host of surprises will be revealed.

The visual representation of Utopia’s projects are as important as the musical quality, and the covers will all be created together with prominent contemporary artists. The first release will be in collaboration with one of the most significant French artists, Philippe Parreno.

As Artistic Director of this new collection, Teodor Currentzis will operate independently alongside Outhere Music which will manage the physical and digital release of all of Theta’s recordings.

Teodor Currentzis, Founder and Artistic Director of Theta:

“Creating Theta is our strategy for a new utopia, a sanctuary where the profound visions of musicians, visual artists, sound engineers, acoustic designers, and other visionaries merge to redefine the boundaries of music. At Funkhaus Berlin, an idealistic location for sound, our team is crafting something unlike anything we've done before. These recordings are not commercial products; Theta embodies our commitment to the dream, the excellence, where every note is carefully woven and motivated by the love, skill, and dedication of a vast community of artists. This is more than a typical industry collaboration — it’s a revolutionary approach and a new statement in music production. Together, we are forging a new frontier, where every note reflects our collective pursuit of spirituality and perfection, transcending the ordinary to offer listeners an unparalleled experience of how music should sound from our ideal perspective”.

Charles Adriaenssen, President of Outhere Music:

“I've known and admired Teodor for a long time; he released his first three recordings with Outhere in the 2010s, including a memorable Mozart Requiem. When he asked me to collaborate with him on this new musical adventure, I agreed because I felt it was important to give a voice to one of the most interesting and visionary musicians of our time”.

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