Festival Management of Young Euro Classic
General Manager: Dr. Gabriele Minz
Dr. Gabriele Minz has been managing the festival from its very first notes – with passion, vision and a love for music. As a co-founder of Young Euro Classic, she developed a platform for rising young musicians in Berlin as an international hotspot. The future generation of musicians is the focus here, as is intercultural dialogue and the exploration of musical traditions from around the world, always with an eye on the future. What motivates her is more than organizational talent: it is the deep conviction that music unites people – beyond borders, generations and cultures.
At Young Euro Classic, we celebrate music – together with the excellent young musicians from all over the world, our unique Festival audience, and our valued partners and companions.
Artistic Directors: Alban Gerhardt and Mathias Hinke
The internationally acclaimed cellist Alban Gerhardt and the sought-after composer and music educator Mathias Hinke jointly took on the artistic directorship of Young Euro Classic in June 2024.
Mathias Hinke: “Alban has the international artistic reputation – I concentrate on accessibility, outreach and artistic effect. Our vision is not a fixed goal; rather, it consists of many little ideas that affect our society. Young Euro Classic should not only offer concerts, but also develop formats that include the city and its citizens – in multiple media, with an open mind and an eye to the future.”
Alban Gerhardt has a long-standing musical relationship with Young Euro Classic. Having appeared as a soloist with the National Youth Orchestra of Germany at the Festival in 2006, the cellist once again won over the audience in 2023, when he performed with the Asian Youth Orchestra during the opening night of the 24th edition of Young Euro Classic. After these joint performances, he said: “I have rarely experienced such a warm-hearted and enthusiastic, youthful audience… and as a native Berliner, as a concertgoer and soloist, but also as a former member of the German National Youth Orchestra, I can only say: if Young Euro Classic didn’t exist already, one would absolutely have to invent it.”
Presenter
Deutscher Freundeskreis europäischer Jugendorchester e.V.
Building a platform for the best young orchestral musicians from all over the world in Berlin, giving the then still young capital a festival - that was the idea for which a handful of friends founded the ‘Deutscher Freundeskreis europäischer Jugendorchester e.V.’ in 2000 - under the chairmanship of Dr Willi Steul. To this day, the Freundeskreis is more than just the presenter of Young Euro Classic - the Freundeskreis is wholeheartedly committed to the festival and the idea behind it. A civic commitment that makes Berlin resound in the truest sense of the word every summer.
Chairman:
Dr. Willi Steul, former Director of Deutschlandradio
Vice Chairman:
Dr. Ralf Kleindiek, former State Secretary, Attorney
Members
Boris Aljinovic (Actor), Dietmar Bär (Actor), Sybille Blomeyer-Bartenstein (former Division Head at the Berlin Senate Chancellery), Felicitas von Brevern (Arts Manager), Dr. Karl Jüsten (Prelate), Wolfgang Klein (Journalist), Martin Krebbers (Journalist), Thomas Kurth (Auditor), Wolfram Lüdecke (Businessman), Dietrich Mattausch (Actor), Johannes Neukirchen (former Assistant Secretary of State, JNC Consultants), Axel Pelzer (Attorney), Joachim Rupprecht (former Notary and Attorney)