© 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
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© 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.
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The Ukrainian violinist Andrii Murza is the founder and artistic director of the International Violin Competition in Odessa. He has performed at numerous important festivals and concert series, including the Heidelberg International Festival, Santander International Festival, the MDR Music Summer and the LvivMozArt International Festival. The violinist is regularly invited for recitals and chamber music programmes in Switzerland, France, Germany, China and Spain. After receiving his first training in Odessa, Murza studied at the Music Academy Reina Sofia in Madrid and at the Mannheim Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Studying with outstanding musicians such as Pinchas Zukerman, Zakhar Bron, Viviane Hagner, Miriam Fried and Ferenc Rados had a profound influence on his professional development. He has been a member of the first violin section at the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra since 2016. Murza plays a violin built by Auguste Sebastien Philippe Bernadel (father) in 1840.
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Born in Odessa in 1988, Aleksey Semenenko began studying the violin at the age of six. Only one year later, he won a children’s music festival award in Odessa and made his solo debut with the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra. After completing his concert exam after studies with Zakhar Bron in Cologne, he currently studies chamber music with Harald Schoneweg. At the latest when he won the prestigious Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York in 2012, he has enjoyed a full concert schedule in Europe and the USA, both as a soloist and chamber musician. After winning the 2015 International Boris Goldstein Violin Competition, he was invited to appear at the Musical Olympus Festival in St. Petersburg, where he won the audience award and then made his debut with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. Among the most recent engagements of the musician are appearances at Berlin’s Philharmonie, Cologne’s Philharmonie, the Essen Philharmonie, the Louvre in Paris, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Alice Tully Hall in New York, Moscow’s Philharmonic Hall and with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. In October 2021, he was appointed professor of violin at the Folkwang University of the Arts. He plays a Stradivarius built in 1699, on loan to him by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.
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Born in L’viv, Ukraine, in 1977, Evgeni Orkin studied clarinet and composition with Yevhen Stankovych at the Kyiv Music Academy. He continued his studies in Utrecht and Mannheim, studying clarinet, conducting and composition with Ulrich Leyendecker and Ernst Bechert. Evgeni Orkin has written eleven chamber symphonies, six large symphonies, solo concerti for violin, piano, saxophone and clarinet, the oratorio Annes Passion based on the diaries of Anne Frank, the opera Magister Ludi, several musical theatre works and a large number of chamber music works. His works have been performed at many international festivals, including the festival Contrasts in L’viv, the Kyiv Music Festival, the Festival New Music in Odessa and the Odessa Music Festival, the Heidelberger Frühling and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival. He has worked closely with many renowned artists, including Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Sol Gabetta and Giora Feidman. As a clarinettist, he has made a name for himself especially by performing world premieres of new works.
Concerto for Flute and String Orchestra Op. 45 (1954)
“The Way” for Symphony Orchestra (2023)
„Odessa Rhapsodie“ for Two Violins and Symphony Orchestra (2022, German Premiere)
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: The orchestra presents two contemporary compositions: the brand new orchestra work The Way by the young composer Bohdana Frolyak and Odessa Rhapsody for two Violins and Symphony Orchestra by the Ukrainian-born composer Evgeni Orkin, the latter a German premiere. The evening 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.
Broadcast
The concert will be streamed LIVE on ARTE CONCERT and will be available afterwards in the ARTE media library: arteconcert.com
The concert will be recorded by Deutschlandfunk Kultur and broadcast nationwide on 29 AUG, 20:03, in the programme “Konzert” – in the Dlf Audiothek app, via FM and DAB+.
