© Peter Adamik
Originally founded as the “Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic”, the Baltic Sea Philharmonic has won many fans since 2008 with its spirited performances and diverse programmes – not only at Young Euro Classic. The members of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic are still from the ten countries of the Baltic Sea region, from the Scandinavian to the Baltic States to Russia, Poland and Germany. This community of musicians from all over the Baltic Sea Region has the goal of bringing people together and overcoming geographical and historical borders; they are led by the vision to maintain and renew the cultural treasures of this region, for example by commissioning new works. Kristjan Järvi is the artistic director of both ensembles. This year’s programme, Waterworks, takes the Baltic Sea Philharmonic not only to Young Euro Classic, but also to Hamburg’s new Elbphilharmonie and to the Danish cultural capital of Aarhus.
Konzerthaus, Berlin
© Katja Renner
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Nordmann, born in Kiel in 1971, studied musicology and modern history first at the Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg, then at Berlin’s Free University and Technical University. Right after his Master’s degree, he wrote his doctoral thesis under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Christian Martin Schmidt on The Influence of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival on the Musical Landscape of Schleswig-Holstein. While still a student, Sebastian Nordmann gathered practical experience in the cultural sector, working at the Edinburgh Festival, the Culture Department of Bayer AG, as orchestra manager of the Schleswig-Holstein State Youth Orchestra and assistant to the Intendant (Artistic Director) of the Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. After completing his doctorate, he worked for the strategic consultancy The Boston Consulting Group in Berlin for two years. From October 2002 to December 2008 he was Intendant and managing director of the Festival Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. From 2008 to 2013 he taught music management / career planning as a professor at the Rostock Academy of Music and Theatre, focusing on the development of self-initiative, creativity, self-assessment and entrepreneurial thought. Since September 2009 Sebastian Nordmann has been Intendant of the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin.
© Franck Ferville
The conductor Kristjan Järvi is one of the rather rare types of musician who are able to move between different genres with the ease of a virtuoso. Whether classical, jazz or hip hop: not least in conjunction with his various ensembles, the 45-year-old pursues a broad range of musical inclinations. Since 2012 he has been chief conductor of the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig; he also continues to lead the Absolute Ensemble in New York, which he founded. Born in the USA as the youngest son of the Estonian conductor Neeme Järvi, the conductor is tireless in his championship of contemporary music. He has commissioned more than 100 works, including from composers such as Arvo Pärt, Tan Dun and Erkki-Sven Tüür. Steve Reich and HK Gruber are among his artistic partners, as are Anoushka Shankar, Hauschka and Marcel Khalife. So far, Kristjan Järvi has released more than 60 albums, ranging from film scores for Cloud Atlas, A Hologram for the King and Sense 8 to the eponymous series The Kristjan Järvi Sound Project.
© Mathias Botor_DG
His first CD featuring violin concerti by Khachaturian and Barber, released in 2011, bore the telling title Two Souls. Indeed, there are two souls within the 32-year-old violinist Mikhail Simonyan. Born in Novosibirsk as the son of Armenian-Russian parents, he immigrated to the USA early in life, where he made his debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall at the age of 15. His teacher at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia was the Russian Victor Dansherenko, who had worked directly with Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Khachaturian as a young man. Since 2013 Simonyan has added the position of artistic director of the newly founded Kaluga Youth Symphony Orchestra in Moscow and president of the Open Sea Foundation to his concert engagements. The Open Sea Foundation supports more than a dozen musical projects, mainly in Russia, including concert performances of the operas Eugene Onegin and Carmen in Russia and Lithuania during recent years.
“Water Possessed Afresh” (2017)
“Water Music” (1717)
“Drenched” (2014)
Concerto for Violin No. 2 “The American Four Seasons” (2009)
“Aguas da Amazonia” (1993, arr. Charles Coleman)
We´re celebrating. Celebrate with us! At the traditional AUDIENCE PARTY after the concert.
7 pm: Pre-Concert Talk with Anne Kussmaul at the Werner-Otto-Saal
Free admission for ticket holders at 6:45 pm
PROGRAMME: “Waterworks”
Baltic Sea meets Amazon: the musicians of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic come from all the countries neighbouring the Baltic Sea, and this year the orchestra’s summer project is entitled Waterworks. Of course, any music lover immediately associates Handel’s Water Music – the Baltic Sea Philharmonic performs the popular piece alongside new works with such programmatic titles as Drenched by Charles Coleman and Water Possessed Afresh by Gene Pritsker. However, the Berlin concert will also feature the waves found in South American jungles. The American composer Philip Glass, a pioneer of minimal music, derived the music of his ballet score Aguas da Amazonia from the multi-faceted sounds and rhythms of the Amazon and its tributaries. Once again, the audience may look forward to a newly instrumented version for large symphony orchestra, performed by Kristjan Järvi and his Baltic Sea Philharmonic.
Broadcast
The concert will be streamed LIVE and ON DEMAND on ARTE CONCERT: concert.arte.tv/young-euro-classic