Beethoven's native city of Bonn, where the composer lived until his 22nd birthday before moving to Vienna, plays a special role, according to Premier Armin Laschet of North Rhine Westphalia, the state in which the city is located.
One of the highlights of the year, scheduled to be officially opened on December 16 in Bonn, is expected to be a concert by the London Symphony Orchestra with Simon Rattle and violinist Lisa Batiashvili and the world premiere of the commissioned work "The Nine" by the Chinese composer Tan Dun.
The Berlin Philharmonic is planning a 24-hour Beethoven marathon on April 25.
The German-French cultural channel Arte plans to broadcast live all nine Beethoven symphonies from nine different European cities.
At the end of the jubilee year, conductor Daniel Barenboim is due to perform the Ninth Symphony with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in Bonn on December 17.
The federal government is contributing 27 million euros (30 million dollars) to Beethoven Year, while North Rhine Westphalia is contributing another 10 million euros.
Bonn is adding 5 million euros to the pot and the district of Rhein-Sieg surrounding the city another 1.5 million euros.
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