Concertgebouworkest Young has started

On 4 augustus 2022 the third edition of Concertgebouworkest Young has started. Over seventy talented young musicians aged fourteen to eighteen from all over Europe have travelled to Akoesticum in the Dutch town of Ede, where they will engage in an intensive summer programme with sectional and orchestral rehearsals, chamber music, coaching sessions and workshops overseen by professional workshop leaders, and lessons with Concertgebouw Orchestra musicians.

 

Launched to great acclaim in 2019, the unique youth orchestra Concertgebouworkest Young is meant for ‘hidden’ talented young musicians who have lacked visibility and who could use a little extra support. It meets a pressing need, since no other project existed before it which catered for young people not currently undergoing professional music training despite being very talented.

 

The focus is not only on the participants’ musical, but also on their personal, development. A special programme developed in partnership with United World Colleges Nederland uses music to promote a sense of community, democratic ideals and personal development among the young participants. The fact that musicians from the Concertgebouw Orchestra also teach the participants, makes sure they learn something of the orchestra’s performance tradition, with an emphasis on ensemble playing, balance and creating a collective sound.

 

On Saturday 13 August, the wind players will give a chamber music concert at open air theatre De Pinkenberg in Velp; the string players will perform at Akoesticum in Ede. On Sunday the 14^th, all ensembles will perform in the central hall of medical centre Amsterdam UMC.

 

Concertgebouworkest Young will be performing as part of the VriendenLoterij Summer Concerts Series at The Concertgebouw on 18 August, and at the prestigious Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg on 20 August. The youth orchestra will be conducted by Gustavo Gimeno, former principal percussionist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra whose career as an internationally renowned conductor took off in 2013. The programme features a recent work by the Spanish composer Francisco Coll entitled Hímnica, the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Isabelle Faust as soloist and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (‘From the New World’).

 

Afterwards, the participants will take back with them the principles on which Young is founded – talent development, diversity and social engagement – as ambassadors to their home countries. Those who participated the first two summers Young was held are now active in – often self-founded – ensembles, orchestras and education programmes. Some are now enrolled in professional music training.

 

Concertgebouworkest Young is possible only with the generous support of private donors, funds and corporate partners.