Concertgebouworkest Young to be held for the third time
Unique international youth orchestra will perform in Amsterdam and Hamburg in August 2022.
In August 2022, Concertgebouworkest Young is being held for the third time. Over seventy talented young musicians aged fourteen to eighteen will be coming together from all over Europe. After an intensive summer programme at Akoesticum in the Dutch city of Ede, they will be presenting themselves as a real orchestra reflecting the diversity of Europe. Under the direction of Gustavo Gimeno, Concertgebouworkest Young will be performing at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg on 18 and 20 August respectively. Afterwards, the young people, like those who participated in previous years, will return to their home countries as active ambassadors for classical music.
Hidden talent
Concertgebouworkest Young was launched to great acclaim in 2019. The youth orchestra is meant to showcase those with hidden talent – young musicians from all over Europe 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. Young came about as a result of the Concertgebouw Orchestra’s tour of all the EU member states from 2016 to 2018, during which it performed together with a local youth orchestra (Side by Side) in each country.
Musical and personal development
The summer programme in Ede includes sectional and orchestral rehearsals, chamber music, coaching sessions and workshops overseen by professional workshop leaders, and lessons with Concertgebouw Orchestra musicians. 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.
Equally unique is the fact that musicians from the Concertgebouw Orchestra also teach the participants, ensuring that the youngsters 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 14th, both ensembles will perform in the centra hall of medical centre Amsterdam UMC.
Concerts in Amsterdam and Hamburg
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’).
Ambassadors
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.
