WHY DOES THE FUTURE GENERATION PLAY THE MUSIC OF THE PAST?

ABOUT THE PROJECT

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Imagine teenagers playing in their first rock band… How about their peers playing in their first symphony orchestra?

In fact, these are ordinary young people who can be recognized on the street only by the suitcase on their shoulders. Some of them have not yet turned 16, and some have already reached their first musical heights. And they are the real rebels, because they play music that is unlikely to be heard in a trendy club or hit parade.

Why does the new generation play the music of the past? — a question to which we are looking for an answer together with the musicians of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in order to find a connection between them and mainstream culture.

During the four episodes of the documentary, filmed on the backstage of the life of a youth orchestra, we open a new perspective on classical music through the eyes of its performers, understand the motivation of young people to perform the works of composers of the past, find out who they are – classical musicians: what they dream about, joke about, worry about, how they feel about their own instrument in the context of an orchestra.

The culmination of the project is a filmed video concert of the Youth Orchestra: the team recorded a program with works: Concerto No. 5 for piano and orchestra by Ludwig van Beethoven (soloist Khrystyna Mykhailichenko), Reunion Poem by Borys Lyatoshinsky and 2nd Symphony “Eroica” by Yevhen Stankovych . The creative process is led by the orchestra’s chief conductor Oksana Lyniv, who works with the world’s largest opera houses and orchestras and was recently announced as the first female conductor at the iconic

PROGRAM

L. van Beethoven – Concerto N.5 for piano and orchestra

E. Stankovych – Symphony N.2 "Eroica"

B. Lyatoshynsky – Poem of Reunification

The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (YSOU) was founded in 2016, initiated by the famous Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv. Her idea was supported by three German partner institutions:the Beethovenfest Bonn, the National youth orchestra of Germany and the Deutsche Welle. Then a unique project was implemented: the first performances of the newly created Ukrainian team took place together with the German National Youth Orchestra. Young Ukrainian and German musicians played four symphony concerts together in August and September 2017 in Lviv, Kyiv, Bonn and Berlin. The debut concert of the project took place within the international festival “LvivMozArt”.

From 2017 to 2021, the orchestra performed at the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin, Musikverein in Graz, the Young Artists Bayreuth Festival, LvivMozArt Festival in Lviv, the National Philharmonic of Ukraine in Kyiv, and on the stage of the Odessa National Opera.

In 2019, YsOU, with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in Berlin, recorded and successfully released their debut CD, “Discover Ukraine,” featuring works by Ukrainian composers.

In the years 2020-2021, the youth orchestra participated in an online project and concert tour ‘Ark of Ukraine: Music’ and implemented a series of documentary films ‘Hear the Classics: Why the new generation plays music of the past,’ both projects supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.

In 2021, the Youth Orchestra of Ukraine was awarded the Saxon Mozart Prize and received the title of “Young Ambassadors of Mozart’s European Paths” for the promotion and preservation of the musical heritage of the Mozart family. That same year, the orchestra was awarded the Gold Medal at the Online World Orchestra Festival for the performance of the Poem of Reunion by B. Lyatoshynsky.

On the day of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, YsOU issued an international call to support Ukraine and aid the youth, becoming a focal point for preserving the young generation of Ukrainian musicians. Together with the Slovenian Youth Orchestra, YsOU implemented the social-artistic project of evacuating young musicians, “Music for the Future,” in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Thanks to the friendly support of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany and the efforts of many partners, in the summer of 2022, YsOU embarked on a massive European tour, “United for the Future,” carrying the message of peace, justice, and freedom. In frames of the tour, the orchestra gave over 30 concerts and performed at 10 major festivals in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, including Bachfest Leipzig, Munich Opera Festival, Lucerne Festival, Young Euro Classic Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Herbstgold Eisenstadt, Festival “Aus den Fugen!” at Konzerthaus Berlin, and had a grand French debut at Theater Chatelet in Paris.

In 2022, the orchestra became a member of the European Federation of Youth Orchestras and received the Music Prize of the city of Duisburg, Germany, for its contribution to the promotion of classical music.

In April 2023, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra took patronage over YsOU.

In 2023, the orchestra embarked on a tour in Germany (Mainz, Sayner Hütte, Ingolstadt), participated in the Young Euro Classic festival, and made its debut at Teatro Grande in Brescia, Vicenza, and Bologna as part of the Italian tour.

Additionally, in July 2023, the orchestra organized the first Chamber Music Academy of YSOU with subsequent chamber concerts during the ‘Les Nuits du Mont Rome’ festival in France.

In September 2023, the orchestra implemented an extensive project titled ‘LOST CHILDHOOD’ under the patronage of Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, at the BOZAR Center for the Arts in Brussels. This project, led by the orchestra’s chief conductor Oksana Lyniv, featured the world premiere of the cantata ‘Daddy’s Book’ by E. Orkin, based on the writings of the children’s author and activist V. Vakulenko, murdered in Russian occupation of his hometown near Kharkiv in Ukraine.

WHY DOES THE FUTURE GENERATION PLAY THE MUSIC OF THE PAST?

ABOUT THE PROJECT

PROGRAM

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