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The European Union Youth Orchestra (= EUYO) is one of the world’s pre-eminent symphony orchestras. Described by the UK Guardian as having “gripping, exhilaratingly good orchestral playing, surging with energy, laser-sharp focus and collective daring… [and] a technical prowess that is downright terrifying”; by the New York Times as “one of the elite organizations of its kind”; and by former EU commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as “the best possible ambassador for the European Union”, the EUYO has provided an exceptional bridge between music colleges and the professional music world for generations of Europe’s finest musicians.
The Orchestra has worked with many of the world’s greatest conductors and soloists including Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Mstislav Rostropovich, and particularly its Music Directors to date: Founding Music Director Claudio Abbado, former Music Director Vladimir Ashkenazy, former Music Director and Conductor Laureate Bernard Haitink, and current Chief Conductor Vasily Petrenko.
Every year, around 3,500 applicants aged 16-26 throughout all 27 EU Member States audition for approximately 120 places. Many of the Orchestra’s now 4000 alumni have become notable conductors, soloists, teachers, and instrumentalists working with the major orchestras of Europe and throughout the world.
A truly global brand, EUYO has performed in most of the world’s major concert halls and festivals, including the BBC Proms, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and Vienna’s Musikverein. From Amsterdam to Abu Dhabi, Moscow to Mumbai, Seoul to São Paulo, the Orchestra has appeared in many hundreds of venues across five continents. Recent prizes include the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella for performances at 2023’s Bolzano Festival Bozen, the Golden Prague International Festival Crystal Award for the best-televised concert of 2022, the European Cultural Brand of the Year 2020, the European Orchestra Award TAURUS, and an Abu Dhabi Culture Summit Cultural Diplomat of the Year Award. In addition to its administrative seat and operational home in Grafenegg, Austria, the Orchestra is also Ensemble-in-Residence at Cremona’s Accademia Stauffer and an annual presence at the Bolzano Festival Bozen.
2024 sees the welcome return of conductors Iván Fischer and Gianandrea Noseda and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, as well as EUYO debuts for Alexandre Bloch and pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. A spring residency in Charleroi and tour of Belgium celebrated the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, focusing on programmes for young people, a range of community events, a world premiere by Belgian composer Annelies Van Parys, and a special concert at Brussels’ Bozar on Europe Day (9 May).
The 2024 Summer Tour includes concerts at Grafenegg Summer Sounds and the Grafenegg Festival, Carnegie Hall, Bolzano Festival Bozen, the Lucerne Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival and Young Euro Classic. In Bolzano, recently named a UNESCO Creative City of Culture, a new Music Hub Italia project will be launched in partnership with local organisations; this follows the Orchestra’s successful establishment of Music Hub Austria in 2022. EUYO will also celebrate the important anniversaries of composers Arnold Schoenberg and Luigi Nono, and of the Italian national broadcaster RAI.
2024 continues projects begun thanks to the support of the EU’s Creative Europe programme Towards 2030. These include the EUYO music innovation and sustainability project Café Bauhaus, the Orchestra’s online learning series EUYO Frontrunners, and a new wellbeing programme for musicians and audiences.
EUYO is further supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport, Grafenegg, the Department of Art and Culture of the Federal Government of Austria, the Department of Art and Culture of the Provincial Government of Lower Austria (St. Pölten), the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Comune di Bolzano, and the European Union’s 27 Member States.
Founded by Joy and Lionel Bryer in 1976, EUYO has been a Cultural Ambassador for the European Union for almost fifty years. The Orchestra’s Honorary President is the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, and its Honorary Patrons include President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Charles Michel, EU Heads of State and Government, and ministers of foreign affairs and culture. |
