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Read about our current initiatives below.
18/08/2025 Full House, Full Sound: Young Euro Classic 2025 ends with a record 95% of occupied seats and standing ovations for young musicians from more than 36 countries.
Young Euro Classic set standards in 2025 – not just artistically, but also in terms of visitor numbers: with more than 95% of occupied seats and a total of approximately 24,000 visitors, the festival experienced one of its most successful editions ever. From August 1 to 17, sixteen youth orchestras including more than 1,200 musicians from at least 36 countries as well as the German National Youth Ballet made the Konzerthaus on Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt a place of infinite musical enthusiasm. The ensembles featured in the festival-within-the-festival “FUTURE NOW – Tomorrow’s Traditions Today”, all of them presenting art music of their own classical traditions, also found an eager audience. Buoyed by impressive performances of international youth orchestras and joint music-making with the traditional music ensembles from various regions of the world, and also by the infectiously positive energy of the musicians, the audience took home an encouraging feeling of hope, despite these times of crises.
10/04/2025 Young Euro Classic 2025 from 1 to 17 August
The focus of this year’s programme is the European idea: freedom, equality, solidarity! 17 evening concerts, five ensemble concerts and a day full of diverse programmes for children await the audience at the Konzerthaus Berlin. From 1 to 17 August, young musicians will bring their skills to the stage with dedication and enthusiasm: in great symphonies, new works and music from their home countries, flanked by jazz concerts and dance. Next to the presentation of western classical music, five young ensembles performing at the festival within the festival will illustrate how they continue the artistic musical traditions of their home countries today, celebrating the diversity of musical creativity.
21/11/2024 Future? Now! FUTURE NOW – Central Asia | Music and Film Festival from 12 to 20 November 2024
At FUTURE NOW – Central Asia young musicians and filmmakers explored the traditions of their home countries in a forward-looking way and entered into a dialogue with young German artists from 12 to 20 November.
At the opening concert in the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie Berlin, young musicians from the five Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Germany presented the unique musical outcome that they created together during a multi-day academy phase in which they composed the transitions between traditional and contemporary works from their home countries. Following on from this, films by young filmmakers from the five Central Asian countries were shown at the delphi LUX cinema from 13 to 20 November.
26/08/2024: ‘re:play – Freedom of Sound’
With the festival within the festival ‘re:play – Freedom of Sound’, Young Euro Classic is expanding its musical horizons with classical music from different cultural regions of the world on the final weekend of its 25th anniversary season from 23 to 25 August. Musical traditions from India, Mongolia, China and Germany, Scotland, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Brazil and Iran can be experienced at the Konzerthaus Berlin. In its 25th edition, Young Euro Classic once again stands for cosmopolitanism, cooperation and the joy of experimentation.
26/08/2024: IT’S BEEN A CELEBRATION: Young Euro Classic’s 25th anniversary full of musical highlights
In its anniversary edition, the international festival of the world’s best youth orchestras once again opened the Konzerthaus stages to first-rate young musicians from all over the world, winning ovations from approximately 23,000 visitors. Presenting 16 orchestras, ten ensembles from non-European musical traditions and a day for children, the festival focused on the future in its 25th edition, once again proving its uniqueness amidst the international cultural landscape.
Young Euro Classic has developed into an important institution, continuously questioning the boundaries of classical music. The approximately 1,125 musicians aged 11 to 28 who performed this year came from 45 countries. Especially the festival-within-the-festival, “re:play – Freedom of Sound”, featuring musical traditions from (Central) Asia, Iran, South America, European and African cultural regions, offered the classic-loving audience new impulses.
14/09/2023: Courage in Concert: The “neighbours of war” at Young Euro Classic 2023
“Courage in Concert”, the festival within the festival, presented not only the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, but also orchestras from Georgia, Uzbekistan and Estonia, some of the “neighbours of war”. “In these difficult times, being able to celebrate our differences, but also the commonalities between the cultures and individuals, made this week very special. The highlight of Young Euro Classic for me were the concerts. Discussing music afterwards together was inspiring and helped us find new ideas,” says the violinist Triin Veissman from Estonia, a participant in the chamber music academy which brought together musicians from Ukraine, Georgia, Uzbekistan and Estonia to rehearse and perform a programme of classical and traditional music. “Wortwechsel”, an evening with authors from all four countries, also illuminated the literary treatment of war and conflict.
14/09/2023: Young Euro Classic fills the Berlin Summer with Enthusiasm
A brilliant performance by the Orchestre Français des Jeunes and the presentation of the European Composition Award to the Ukrainian composer Evgeni Orkin by Berlin’s Senator of Culture, Joe Chialo, brought the 24th season of Young Euro Classic to a successful close.
The world’s leading youth orchestra festival offered its approximately 24,500 visitors an impressive programme: over the course of three and a half weeks, there were 17 orchestra concerts plus evenings of chamber music, ballet and literature. With NEXT GENERATION, the youngest audience members had a series of performances and events dedicated to them.
11/10/22: Join us for some “Time Travel“ …
Join us when artful Chinese music meets German masterworks: celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and Germany, international virtuosos and rising young talents perform treasures from both cultural nations of Germany and China. Artful arrangements of music by Bach, Schubert, Schumann, and Mozart are juxtaposed with a contemporary piece by Y. WANG and masterworks for traditional Chinese instruments, taking us on a journey through the epochs. They are complemented by literary impulses and projected images, helping us to contemplate what defines our cultures and what they share in common.
Featuring Shengnan HU (percussion), Wei LU (violin), Lucy ZHAO (pipa), Wu WEI (sheng), Siyi CHEN (guzheng), Lini GONG (soprano), Boris Aljinovic (recitation), Justine Eckhaut (piano), Tilmann Dehnhard (jazz flute), Thoma Jaron-Wutz (tenor), Daniel Streicher (piano)
08/09/22: 13 Horizons celebrates 30 years of diplomatic relationships in Berlin
Stories and voices from Europe to Central Asia: from 10 September through 12 December 2022, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany celebrates the achievement of 30 years of diplomatic relationships with 13 different countries via the project 13 Horizons. The concerts, films, culinary programme and exhibition will delight your senses as Germany commemorates these partnerships with a vibrant cultural exchange. Join us on a journey to 13 new horizons!
04/05/22: Standing Ovation for the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
On 3 April 2022, a packed concert hall expressed its solidarity with the Ukrainian people at the benefit concert of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (YsOU) at Konzerthaus Berlin. Under the direction of Natalia Stets, the orchestra gave a stirring performance that a deeply moved audience rewarded with a standing ovations. We thank all who participated in this evening of solidarity with the Ukrainians and supported the orchestra. May this experience of agency and community strengthen the young musicians and help them endure the unbearable.
