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Young Euro Classic Festival 2016 in Berlin

Cultural exchange among the young people through the classical music

September 12th, 2016
Georgi Zografov, News from Berlin
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The Young Euro Classic music festival is an annual German cultural project for symphonic youth orchestras. It was established in 2000 in Berlin and through the years it has made an essential contribution to the development of cultural relations among the global youth. Since its founding in 2000, almost 20,000 young musicians from 56 nations have performed at the Young Euro Classic.

In 2016 once again the German capital was a musical centre for young orchestras from Europe and the rest of the world.  From 17th of August to 3rd of September the 17th edition of the Young Euro Classic was held at the Konzerthaus Berlin. The motto of the festival was “Tomorrow’s musicians today”. For 17 days the event aimed to provide an international platform for young orchestra musicians from all over the world to meet and exchange cultural experiences through classical music and contemporary compositions.

The festival stands for youth culture, open-mindedness and the spirit of the European Enlightenment and culture that bring the people together. The cultural diversity at Young Euro Classic 2016 ranged from France to the Ural, from Norway to Bulgaria. During the event, international guests from Mexico to the Arab countries and Kazakhstan reflected their version of Europe’s musical tradition.

This year for the first time ever the Young Euro Classic welcomed the three best international youth orchestras: the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) (17.08), the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra (21.08) and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (28.08).

This year’s program of the festival also included concerts of the Music Academy Orchestra of Latvia (20.08); the Bundesjugendorchester, Germany (22.08); the Symphony Orchestra of the Kazakh National University of the Arts, Kazakhstan (23.08); the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands (25.08); the Youth Orchestra Romania-Moldova, which brought together musicians aged 17 to 25 from Romania and Moldova (26.08); the Symphony Orchestra of the Mussorgsky Conservatory Ural, Yekaterinburg, Russia (29.08); the Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (30.08), which unites 65 musicians from eight Arab countries (Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Palestine and Kuwait).

Bulgaria made its debut on 27th of August during the Young Euro Classic, with its venerable Pioneer Youth Orchestra.

At the end of August 2016 the program of the Young Euro Classic festival continued with the concert of the Music Academy Orchestra of Estonia (31.08).  On 1st of September 2016 the youngest musicians of the Festival performed with the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie (German String Philharmonic), which is the top orchestra of the German music schools. On the next day (2nd of September) the national Mexican youth orchestra Orquesta Sinfónica “Estanislao Mejia,” also performed a concert. The program of the Young Euro Classic festival 2016 ended with the concert of the Orchestre Français des Jeunes.

The importance of the event for cultural diplomacy is essential because Young Euro Classic is a platform for national and multi-national youth orchestras. It gathers youth orchestras from all over the world and inspires public discussion about the values of classical music and its importance for the culture of the different countries in the world. Young Euro Classic also aims to inspire the founding of new orchestras, which is very important for strengthening the cultural ties between nations through the art of the classic music.

The social, cultural and musical experience during Young Euro Classic is unique because through this format the young musicians can show their musical skills and abilities. They can express their ideas and cultural identity via the music and gain invaluable practical experience. In the future the Young Euro Classic festival will remain a solid intercultural stage, which will promote cultural cooperation and dialogue between young people across the world through the soft power of classical music.

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News from Berlin