All-IN-4Art with Bettina Bermbach of Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben (DSM, the German Foundation for Musical Life)

Welcome to our new series, All-IN-4Art where our Florida correspondent, Robert J Carreras interviews musical figures from across the globe. 

Bettina Bermbach, 2026 (Photo: David Ausserhofer)

Bettina Bermbach arrived at Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben (DSM, the German Foundation for Musical Life) from Hamburg State Opera in 2022. With the entrance of Bermbach, DSM entered into a reinventing and restructuring of its managerial operations. 

DSM triangulates its support of young musicians: by awarding scholarships and prizes, by providing instruments, and through performance opportunities. DSM provides long-term and tailor-made support for about 300 young musicians, ranging from 12 to 30 years of age. 

The foundation's secondary wing is the Deutscher Musikinstrumentenfonds (DMIF, the German Musical Instrument Fund). The instrument fund holds in its collection over 280 instruments of historical significance that are gifted, on loan, to select DSM award recipients. "Every year, we award the valuable instruments at a competition in Lübeck. This year, 49 highly talented musicians auditioned and 34 instruments were re-awarded."

Among the priceless artifacts awarded to DSM musicians in 2026 were a Guadagnini violin and a Grancino cello, both from 18th century Milan.

1.) Ms. Bettina Bermbach, thank you grandly for joining Planet Hugill for All-IN-4-Art.
Please choose a word for the kind of day you want today to be.

Joyful

Please tell Planet Hugill where you are, what time of day it is, about the weather, and what you're doing.

It's Monday, the sun is shining from a cloudless morning sky in Hamburg, and I'm sitting at my desk in the foundation's office writing a letter to a potential sponsor for the extension of an important project with young musicians.

2.) Ms. Bermbach, is there a level of musical talent that can only be understood as a gift?

Behind every great musician lie many years of hard work and discipline. Talent is part of the overall skill set, but without discipline it cannot flourish. However, there are always musicians with incredible natural talent who play with great ease and touch the audience. I truly see this talent as a gift.

3.) How can music effect positive change in the world?

Concerts, opera performances, art performances, choir concerts —live music is always a unifying experience for everyone involved. For the musicians and singers who have worked together and then present the results of their efforts, but also for the audience who experience the music together. This shared experience is something incredibly positive and can have a big impact. I don't have the general hope that music can change the world for the better, but for individual musicians and listeners, it can change everything. It doesn't necessarily have to be classical music; this also applies to all other types of music and across all cultures.

4.) Planet Hugill knows you already do a lot for others – young musicians and audiences – through DSM. Now, you've been granted a wish to do anything life-changing you want for others through your managerial skills, as long as you involve whomever you choose. You can make your wish come true musically, of course.

I would love to find the one foolproof method that introduces people to music and gets them completely hooked. Especially in the field of classical music—many people worry that they don't understand classical music or that this music isn't for them. I would love to break down this barrier. But I'm afraid that to do so, I need a magic wand rather than a management tool. But you asked me for a wish that would come true...

5.) Ms. Bermbach, do you believe there is a greater purpose to musical talent?

No, I don't think so. At least not a higher purpose that gives rise to an obligation. People have so many different talents—musical, scientific, literary, communicative...

6.) In one word, please describe a classical music performance that eclipses all others.

Divine.

How does that happen?

When everything comes together during a concert or an opera performance: the musicians play perfectly in sync, the singers are in top form, and their voices complement each other. That's something you can't plan or force, but when it happens, it's divine.

Take us to one experience of this in your life, only on one.

During a performance of “Tristan and Isolde” in Dresden with Christian Thielemann, there were those magical moments when everything just fell into place.

7.) Pick three classical music luminaries from the past to spend the day with.

A conversation with the young George Frideric Handel in Hamburg about his first opera would certainly be interesting - We would have a coffee at Gänsemarkt, where the first Hamburg Opera House used to stand.

Then I would like to spend a day with Antonio Stradivari in his workshop in Cremona and have him explain how he built his unique instruments and what his secret was.

And of course I would like to meet Maria Callas and ask her for a little private concert.

Finally, Ms. Bermbach, tell the Planet Hugill audience anything you'd like about music.

Music is one of the most important things in my life. Experiencing a concert, accompanying our young scholarship holders, immersing myself in an opera— all these things make me grateful. It is a gift that I have been able to work in the music industry for over 25 years, even though I myself have no artistic talent whatsoever, play the piano very poorly, and cannot sing a single note correctly. But I am a grateful audience member, and so I have not only been able to get to know an enormous repertoire, but also many incredibly talented artists. And I am very happy that I can now support young musicians on their way to the concert stage. I go to the office happy every day!