New recording partnership with Alpha Classics for “ASM Forte Forward”

In 2026 and 2027, Anne-Sophie Mutter celebrates a major milestone: 50 years on the world’s leading stages. She uses this momentous occasion to open new paths as a soloist, chamber musician, mentor, commissioner of new music, and record producer. Anne-Sophie Mutter says: “I choose to be more than a guardian of traditions. Music lives as we renew it and pass it on.” 

An inspiration to entire generations of musicians and an indefatigable icon of classical music, Anne-Sophie Mutter remains an artist in motion: curious, bold, and open to what music can be today and tomorrow. For decades, she has been commissioning works from today’s most exciting composers and supporting young performers. With ASM Forte Forward, Mutter launches her own series of recordings on Alpha Classics. She works alongside musical friends, including both current and former scholarship recipients of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.

• In 2026 and 2027, Anne-Sophie Mutter is celebrating 50 years on stage. 
• With the release of the first single Likoo, for violin solo by Iranian-Dutch composer Aftab Darvishi, Anne-Sophie Mutter launches the ASM Forte Forward series on January 23, 2026.
• The first album, East Meets West, features works by Aftab Darvishi, Unsuk Chin, Jörg Widmann and Thomas Adès, and will be released on March 27, 2026. 
• The second album, American Tunes #1, features works by André Previn and Sebastian Currier, and will be released in August 2026. The release of this album coincides with Anne-Sophie Mutter’s 50th anniversary concert at the Lucerne Festival, where she made her international debut in 1976.
• More albums are scheduled for release in 2027 and 2028.
• This new partnership with Alpha Classics expands Mutter’s commitment to today’s music and to supporting young performers and composers. 
• This series marks a new chapter in Mutter’s career: for the first time, she is producing the recordings herself.
• On stage, Mutter will perform Aftab Darvishi’s Likoo, for violin solo in Taiwan (January 23 and 24), Hong Kong (January 29 and 30), the UK (May 16), Germany (June 2-15), and Switzerland (August 25). You can find Anne-Sophie Mutter’s concert diary on pages 3-4.

“With Alpha Classics, I am opening up new avenues for myself and my foundation. I am delighted that Alpha Classics is creating a platform for my new series, ASM Forte Forward, which stands for courage, independence and openness to new ideas. These are values that I would like to pass on to the next generation.” says Anne-Sophie Mutter.

Alpha Classics is a label of the Outhere Music group, whose Founder and President, Charles Adriaenssen, states: “I am thrilled about this collaboration with Anne-Sophie Mutter. She has been my musical north star for as long as I can remember! Moreover, the focus on contemporary works chimes perfectly with Outhere’s mission, which is to serve music in all its diversity and bring the best to the widest audience.” 

Didier Martin, director of Alpha Classics and CEO of Outhere Music, continues: “The teams at Alpha Classics and Outhere Music are very proud to support this new series focused on musical creation, and to be associated with an artist as passionate and charismatic as Anne-Sophie Mutter in her fight for the music of tomorrow.” 

The first album: East Meets West

The first album in the new series, East Meets West, includes works by four composers from diverse origins. The programme moves from solo violin, through duo and chamber repertoire, to a work for violin and orchestra. It opens with Likoo, for violin solo by Iranian-Dutch composer Aftab Darvishi, followed by Gran Cadenza for two violins by Unsuk Chin, a South Korean composer living in Berlin, Jörg Widmann’s String Quartet No. 6, entitled Étude sur Beethoven; and concludes with Thomas Adès’ work for violin and orchestra, Air – Homage to Sibelius, recorded here with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the British composer himself.

East Meets West
Aftab Darvishi:
Likoo, for violin solo
Anne-Sophie Mutter

Unsuk Chin: Gran Cadenza, for two violins
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin I
Nancy Zhou, violin II

Jörg Widmann: Studie über Beethoven (String Quartet No. 6) 
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin I
Ye-Eun Choi, violin II
Muriel Razavi, viola
Pablo Ferrández, cello

Thomas Adès: Air – Homage to Sibelius, for violin and orchestra 
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Stephanie Gonley, guest leader
London Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Adès, conductor

Album Release Date: March 27, 2026 (ALPHA1244 / Alpha Classics, CD, LP & digital)

PRESS ASSETS
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Upcoming concerts in 2026 (selection)

January 23/24: Taipei: 
Taiwan premiere: Likoo by Aftab Darvishi
National Symphony Orchestra
Lina González-Granados, conductor
Works by John Williams

January 29/30: Hong Kong
Hong Kong Philharmonic
Lina González-Granados, conductor
Works by John Williams

February 14: Künzelsau
Würth Philharmonic
Claudio Vandelli, conductor
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto

February 18: London
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Karina Canellakis, conductor
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto

Further tour dates:
February 20: Cologne, February 21: Düsseldorf, February 22: Luxembourg, February 24: Hamburg, February 26: Hanover, February 27: Frankfurt, February 28: Vienna

March 18/20/21: Tel Aviv, March 19: Haifa
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Lahav Shani, conductor
Beethoven: Violin Concerto
*** March 27: Album Release East Meets West *** 

May 12: Dresden
Benefit concert for Doctors Without Borders
Lauma Skride, piano
Sakura Toba, cello

May 16: London
European premiere of Likoo by Aftab Darvishi
Lauma Skride, piano
Maximilian Hornung, cello

May 22: Turin
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Vasily Petrenko, conductor
Beethoven: Violin Concerto

June 2: Cologne
Berlin Baroque Soloists
German premiere of Likoo by Aftab Darvishi
Works by Previn and Mozart

Further tour dates: 
June 3: Dortmund, June 4: Düsseldorf, June 6: Coesfeld, June 9: Stuttgart, June 10: Freiburg, June 11: Mannheim, June 13: Regensburg, June 14: Bad Kissingen

June 15: Hamburg
Benefit concert for Welthungerhilfe
Participants and programme: see above.
** August 2026: Album Release American Tunes #1 *** 

Lucerne Festival
Anniversary: 50 years on stage
August 23:
Artist talk on the 50th stage anniversary

August 25: 
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Swiss premiere of Likoo by Aftab Darvishi
Works by Previn and Mozart

September 3:
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck, conductor
Penderecki: Metamorphoses

Press Contact

PS Music Berlin
Peggy Schmidt & Simone Dollmann
mail: peggy.schmidt@psmusicberlin.com & simone.dollmann@psmusicberlin.com
phone: +49 171 68 90 112

Alpha Classics
Floor van der Holst
mail: floorvanderholst@vamartists.com
phone: +31 64 84 82 884

Veronika Lindenmayr
mail: veronika@outhere-music.com

Alpha Classics: https://outhere-music.com/en/labels/alpha-classics
Outhere Music: https://outhere-music.com

photos: Andreas Ortner, Alpha Classics, Matthew Johnson