The City of Hamburg awards Christoph von Dohnányi the Johannes Brahms Medal for Outstanding Artistic Work. From 1977 to 1984, Dohnányi was director and chief conductor of the Hamburger Staatsoper and general music director of Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg. From 2004 to 2010 he was chief conductor of the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, today’s NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester. Previous winners of the Johannes Brahms Medal include Karl Muck (1928), the Hamburger Symphoniker (1982), Yehudi Menuhin (1987), Felicitas Kuckuck (1994) and 2010 the NDR Choir.