Fourth edition Concertgebouworkest Young kicks off
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's youth project is a successful breeding ground for young talent
The fourth edition of Concertgebouworkest Young for talented musicians aged 14 to 17 will start in August 2023. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra launched Young in 2019. This time 84 young people from a total of 22 nationalities were selected from no less than 412 applications. After an intensive summer programme and several chamber music concerts, the young musicians will present themselves as an orchestra in Amsterdam and Berlin. After this edition, Concertgebouworkest Young, which hitherto was an annual project, will take place every other year. The former participants now form a growing international network of young musicians.
Summer programme
On 9 August 2023, Young's intensive summer programme will start for the fourth time at Akoesticum in the Dutch town of Ede. It contains group and orchestral rehearsals, chamber music, coaching sessions, workshops by professional workshop leaders and lessons from musicians of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In addition, a programme was developed in collaboration with United World Colleges to stimulates a sense of community, democratic thinking and the personal development of young people through music.
Symphonic concerts
The 84 young musicians from all over Europe present themselves as an international youth orchestra under the direction of Andrés Orozco-Estrada in Amsterdam and Berlin. Concertgebouworkest Young will perform during the VriendenLoterij Summer Concerts at The Concertgebouw on 23 August, and at the Konzerthaus Berlin as aprt of the Young Euro Classical Festival for youth orchestras on the 25th. The concerts will start with Tchaikovsky's Fantasy Overture "Romeo and Juliet" and Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with soloist María Dueñas. This is followed by the world premiere of The Muscle that Raises the Wing by the young Dutch composer Carlijn Metselaar, and Musorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
The concert in Amsterdam on 23 August will be broadcast live on the radio by AVROTROS via NPO Klassiek, and streamed via the Concertgebouworkest's YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Chamber music
In preparation for the symphonic concerts, the participants give a few concerts in smaller formations. On 18 August they will perform at Amsterdam UMC Location AMC – respectively on the Voetenplein and at the Emma Children's Hospital – and at two locations in Amsterdam UMC Location VUmc. On 19 August 19, the wind section will play in open-air theater De Pinkenberg in Velp at 11 a.m., the string players willperform at Akoesticum in Ede at 2.30 po.m. See below for more information about these concerts.
Active young ambassadors
The participants of the first three editions meanwhile form a growing international network: many of them keep in touch with each other, have now joined conservatories and are active in education programmes, orchestras or – often self-founded – ensembles. In this way, the Concertgebouw Orchestra contributes to an active new generation of musicians.
The snowball effect is also noticeable in the Netherlands. For example, more than ten former Young musicians are now studying at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Some of them have been organizing a chamber music series in Nellestein, Amsterdam Zuid-Oost, since last spring.
Every other year
Concertgebouworkest Young, an international youth orchestra for young musicians who deserve a little support, has developed into a success formula since its first edition in 2019. After the first four editions, the project will take place every other year, alternating with the Ammodo Masterclass for young conductors, another important talent development programme of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The fifth edition of Young will take place in August 2025.
Support
Concertgebouworkest Young is only possible thanks to the generous support of private donors, funds and corporate partners.
Chamber music Young 2023
Saturday, 19 August, 11 a.m.
Open-air theatre De Pinkenberg, Velp: the wind players of Young
Saturday, 19 August, 2.30 p.m.
Akoesticum, Ede: the string players of Young