We've all heard the saying that creativity is the father of invention, and 2020 bore this out when the Young Euro Classic re-invented itself from a youth orchestra festival into a youth chamber festival. We'll hear the results, June 16th at 8pm.
6/2 In mid-June, the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra offered two concerts in one. The idea was to space out visitors in the Cologne Philharmonie, admit fewer of them, and spread the musical riches more equitably by having two one-hour performances on a single evening for different audiences. They performed music by Respighi, Wagner, Enescu, Mozart and Schubert with pianist Igor Levit and conductor Cristian Macelaru.
6/9 As a saying goes, "a crisis is a terrible thing to waste." The worldwide pandemic has forced people to be inventive. We'll sample a virtual musical bridge spanning Germany and Russia, a unique performance of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony and a "ghost concert," audience-free, in the Cologne Philharmonie – and a pretty lively one at that.
6/16 This is where the future plays! says Young Euro Classic in Berlin. Normally this festival invites youth orchestras worldwide to Berlin for a week. In 2020, most orchestras were on pandemic-induced leave. Rather than calling it all off, the decision was made to turn Young Euro Classic into a chamber music festival – uncovering many treasures in the process.
6/23 The focus of Young Euro Classic is on Europe, which when it comes to music, is a rather broad theme, so the idea is to spotlight different kinds of music from different regions — including Greece, Paris and Vienna. We’ll hear from the Pacific Quintet, pianist Yundi Xu, cellist Marcel Johannes Kits, violinist Mayumi Kanagawa, the European Union Youth Orchestra and more.
6/30 There's no limit to the imagination of creative people in a crisis, as one sees when Tensions: Music in the Power Plant in Heimbach is transplanted to a church in Berlin. The sensational chamber music festival and its unmistakable spirit and aesthetic thrive whatever the location. We’ll hear music by Beethoven, Jörg Widmann, Brahms, and Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time.
