© Kai Bienert I MUTESOUVENIR
The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is a unique project, which brings together talented young musicians aged 12 to 22 and supports their education. After its 2018 Young Euro Classic debut and another appearance in 2022, the orchestra makes its third festival appearance. The Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv initiated this project. Its first performances took place together with the German National Youth Orchestra in 2017, with concerts in Lviv, Kyiv, Berlin and Bonn. The orchestra has performed at the LvivMozArt Festival in Lviv, at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine in Kyiv, the Odessa National Opera and the Musikverein in Graz. Since the outbreak of the Russian war on Ukraine, the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine has initiated a large-scale evacuation project for young Ukrainian musicians together with the Slovenian Youth Orchestra, Music for the Future in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Last year, the orchestra undertook an extensive European tour with 30 concert in ten cities under the motto United for the Future; in addition to Young Euro Classic, the Ukrainian musicians also performed at the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Lucerne Festival and at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, among others.
Konzerthaus Berlin
© Oleg Panov
The Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv, herself the daughter of two musicians, received her musical education at the music academy of her hometown in Lviv. In 2017 she became chief conductor of the Graz Opera; in 2022 she was appointed general music director at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, where she led new productions of Verdi’s I vespri siciliani and Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer this spring. Oksana Lyniv also celebrated her successful debut as the first female conductor in the history of the Bayreuth Festival with this opera in 2021. Since the Russian assault on Ukraine, Lyniv has come to symbolize the fight against the war in her homeland throughout the international music world. The 45-year-old is also a passionate advocate for classical music in Ukraine: she founded the international festival LvivMozArt in Lviv in 2017, which was inspired by the historical work of Mozart’s son Franz Xaver in Lviv. In 2016 she initiated the founding of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, whose artistic director she has been ever since.
© Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Born in Lviv in the millennium year of 2000, Daryna Bachynska received her first piano lessons at the age of six before taking up the flute at age eleven. In 2018, she graduated from the Special Music School Solomiia Krushelnytska and transferred to the Music Academy in Cracow, Poland. After successfully completing her bachelor’s degree, the flutist is currently continuing her studies at the Conservatory in Liege, Belgium. Daryna Bachynska has appeared as a soloist at renowned venues such as the Benslow Music Centre (England), the Flauti di Toscana (Italy) and Foliamusica Festivals (France). In 2020 she was also awarded a scholarship from the renowned flute maker Powell Flutes, which included a sterling silver headjoint as a special prize. Since 2019, Daryna Bachynska has been the principal flutist of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine.
Chamber Symphony for Flute and Orchestra No. 3 (1982)
Concerto for Flute and String Orchestra Op. 45 (1954)
“The Way” for Symphony Orchestra (2023)
Symphony No. 5 in C-minor Op. 67 (1804-1808)
About the concert
Its concerts are a powerful signal that culture can take place in times of war – and must take place indeed. After the highly emotional performance last year, this year’s festival appearance by the young Ukrainian musicians is certainly one to look forward to: their subsequent concert programme in 2022 included 30 concerts in many European countries! The orchestra is led by the internationally sought-after conductor Oksana Lyniv, who has assembled a diverse programme for Young Euro Classic 2023: from the older generation of Ukrainian composers, Yevhen Stankovych contributes a work for flute; this is flanked by the brand-new orchestral composition The Way by his young colleague Bohdana Frolyak. The evening also begins with a flute highlight: Malcolm Arnold’s brief but impressive Flute Concerto. The final piece offers symphonic contrast: Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, a work whose dramatic development from the darkness of C-minor to the light of C-major also offers a musical sign of hope in these dispiriting times of war.
