The German-Nordic Youth Philharmonic
The German-Nordic Youth Philharmonic is a symphonic youth orchestra with an international line-up whose work takes place in the form of orchestral classes. The annual German-Nordic Orchestral Week goes back to the initiative of conductor Andreas Peer Kähler, who has been the orchestra’s artistic director since its initial gathering during the turn of the year 1981/1982. In these orchestral classes we offer participating young musicians the possibility of acquiring a sophisticated concert repertoire with the help of our high-calibre team of teachers, culminating in a performance at the Berlin Philharmonie.
The orchestra brings together up to one hundred young musicians, predominately university students, but there are also aspiring professionals and students from schools who are contemplating a career as musicians. The orchestra’s core is traditionally made up of both German and Scandinavian musicians, but the orchestra’s line-up has become more international over the last years. This year we welcome musicians from more than 20 nations.
For their concert programmes, the German-Nordic Youth Philharmonic chooses various themes from Nordic culture and aims to promote a better understanding of Nordic orchestral music. Numerous premieres abroad – as well as in Germany – of works by Allan Petterson, Jón Leifs, and Edvard Grieg, among others, are a testament to the importance of the task the orchestra has taken on. Additionally, a composition reflecting the theme of the orchestra week is commissioned every year.
In addition to the Orchestral Week’s final concert, which traditionally takes place in the Berlin Philharmonie, the German-Nordic Youth Philharmonic has played the inauguration concert of the Järna Concert Hall (Sweden) as well as concerts in Lahti and Helsinki (Finland) and at the »Nordischer Klang« festival in Greifswald. In the summer of 2017, it acted as the partner orchestra of »Crossing Borders,« the 17th International Symposium in Group Analysis in Berlin. Renowned soloists such as Gert Westphal, Ludwig Quandt, Janne Saksala, Albrecht Mayer, Semmy Stahlhammer, Nina Stemme, Ragnar Heyerdahl, Kolja Blacher, and many others have worked with the orchestra in the past.
The German-Nordic Youth Philharmonic is a member of Jeunesses Musicales Germany and was recognized as a non-profit association in 1988.