‘A fresh cell therapy for the audience’

The Young Euro Classic (YEC) is a festival of the world's best youth orchestras. In its 25 years, it has established itself as an important platform for young international orchestras. We spoke with festival director Dr Gabriele Minz.

GVL: This year you celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Young Euro Classic. The festival is extremely well received by the Berlin audience, which is spoiled by world-class orchestras. How do you explain this enthusiasm for young talent?

Gabriele Minz: You are right to say that the classical music audience in Berlin in particular is spoilt for choice. However, Young Euro Classic offers a real breath of fresh air with its youth orchestras and their vibrant performances. This is not about mundane competition, but about passionate music-making and proving yourself in front of an attentive audience. And through their programmes, the orchestras also bring pieces from their home countries as well as new compositions to the stage, thus challenging the audience to open their hearts and ears to new things.

Although the festival is dedicated to the European idea, it also invites performers from all over the world. How do you select the participating orchestras?

Orchestras apply to us to participate. Our main focus is on national youth orchestras, each of which represents the pinnacle of music education in their country. Otherwise, the quality of the programme would quickly suffer. We are also always looking for new orchestras to establish. We know that performing at Young Euro Classic means real validation for the orchestras in their home countries, which helps them to establish themselves and justify funding at home. In this respect, Young Euro Classic even provides targeted ‘development aid’ through its invitations in some cases.

You have said in interviews that YEC shapes the music summer in Berlin and fills the summer slump. What significance do the young artists have for the cultural landscape?

To put it simply, young musicians are the future and the foundation of the classical music business. Promoting them must be a concern for all of us. Fortunately, young people's interest in this profession does not seem to be waning. The youth orchestras presented at Young Euro Classic are not only made up of future professional musicians, but also of people who will go on to pursue completely different careers, but whose lives will always be shaped by their love of music. Enough has been said about the positive effects of music education. At our festival, all of this is the focus of our activities.

With its funding, GVL is committed to a diverse cultural landscape – and for us, that includes the next generation. How important is the collaboration with sponsors like GVL for cultural diversity and the artistic programme?

We are endlessly grateful to GVL for their loyal commitment and financial support over many long years. With this funding, GVL contributes to the success of Young Euro Classic in all its various facets: to wonderful and always different concert experiences, to the encouragement of young musicians, and to the continued existence of the orchestra scene in their respective home countries. It's as simple as it is true: no festival can exist without sponsors and partners, and we are delighted that GVL is committed to supporting the next generation of professional orchestral musicians in this way, year after year.

What do you think makes Young Euro Classic a special musical experience for the audience and the young performers?

Last summer at the festival, one of our employees was asked by young orchestra musicians from a non-European country what ‘the most important thing for the festival’ was about their upcoming performance. Apparently, the concert the night before had made quite an impression on them, and they were a little worried about how their own performance would go down with the audience. The answer was: the passion for the music and the search for contact with the audience, the irrepressible joy of playing that can be seen in the faces of the musicians and also heard. It may not always sound technically perfect at the YEC, but the audience doesn't come for perfection, but for the vibrancy and passion that you can always see in these musicians. In this city, you can hear the Berlin Philharmonic and other professional orchestras every week. But if you want to hear the future today, with unbridled vitality, enthusiasm and exuberance, then you come to Young Euro Classic.