07:00 pm
Aurel Dawidiuk Conductor
Giorgi Gigashvili Piano
Alban Gerhardt Introduction
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF · Concerto for piano and orchestra no. 3 D minor op. 30 (1909)
GIYA KANCHELI · „Noch ein Schritt / Another step“ (1992)
MODEST MUSSORGSKI · „Pictures at an Exhibition“ (1874), orchestrated by Maurice Ravel (1922)
The festival Young Euro Classic has never seen such an opening concert: two outstanding 26-year-old artists share the stage at the Konzerthaus Berlin with the young musicians of the Bundesjugendorchester, the National Youth Orchestra of Germany, which unites the top young players in Germany aged 12 to 18. Aurel Dawidiuk, a native of Hanover who also enjoys a steep career as a pianist and organist, is a conductor invited regularly to lead renowned orchestras all over Europe and Asia. The soloist in Rachmaninov’s ravishing Piano Concerto No. 3 in D-minor is the same age: Giorgi Gigashvili has also been successful in many of the leading concert halls in Europe and America. From Gigashvili’s Georgian homeland, they perform the composition Another Step by Giya Kancheli, who passed away in 2019, before Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition – in the brilliantly colourful orchestration by Maurice Ravel – are heard in the second half of the concert. Enchanting sonic experiences are guaranteed!
Katharina Günther-Wünsch, senator for Education, Youth and Family Affairs
Dr. Willi Steul, Chariman of Deutscher Freundeskreis europäischer Jugendorchester e.V.
Introduction and Q&A at 6.pm with the artistic director of Young Euro Classic Alban Gerhardt in the Werner-Otto Saal. Entry with a concert ticket.
Language: German
Join us for a public celebration after the concert! Celebrate with us and the German National Youth Orchestra.
The Bundesjugendorchester (National Youth Orchestra of Germany, or BJO) is not only Germany’s youngest top orchestra for rising talents, but also under the patronage of the Berlin Philharmonic – and a beloved regular guest at Young Euro Classic. Following its motto “Playing. Supporting. Raising Enthusiasm”, the young musicians aged 14 to 19, most of them first-prize winners of the “Jugend musiziert” competition, meet for several intense rehearsal periods per year. The orchestra presents compositions from all epochs, including contemporary works and world premieres. Founded by the German Music Council in 1969, the BJO has performed with numerous star conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Kirill Petrenko or Dirk Kaftan and with soloists such as Tabea Zimmermann, Sting or Peter Maffay. It has also become one of Germany’s most important cultural ambassadors, focusing on burning issues of our times: thus, it accompanied the founding of the national youth orchestra of Ukraine (2017), supported music education projects in the South African township of Soweto (2019) and reactivated its youth exchange with the United Kingdom after Brexit (2025).
A native of Hanover, Aurel Dawidiuk is one of Germany’s most versatile talents. He began his studies at the age of 14 in the junior division of the Academy of Music, Theatre and Media in his hometown. At the “Jugend musiziert” Competition, he won a total of seven first prizes on the federal level in various categories, as well as special awards and scholarships; he also received a multitude of further awards at international competitions. He also trained as an organist and conductor. At the moment, he is in his second season as associate conductor at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, where he also conducted his first concert in April, with works by Debussy, Poulenc and Tchaikovsky. He also made his debuts this season with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. As an organist, a tour took him to Vienna, Cologne, Zurich and Madrid this spring. Starting in the fall of 2026, the 26-year-old Dawidiuk will become the new general music director of the Bochum Symphony Orchestra.
Born in the Georgian capital Tbilisi in 2000, Giorgi Gigashvili began his piano studies at the State Conservatory of his hometown at an early age. At 19, he won the first prize at the International Piano Competition in Vigo, Spain, where Martha Argerich chaired the jury. This was followed by a second prize at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv and in 2024 the Music Prize of the German Business Community and the audience award at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, among others. Solo performances have taken Gigashvili to the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Wigmore Hall in London. On his 2023 debut album Meeting my Shadow, he demonstrates a versatile palette in works by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Scriabin and Messiaen. Gigashvili regularly performs with one of his mentors, the violinist Lisa Batiashvili. He also combines his career as a classical pianist with a passion for electronic and experimental music; his project “Serious Music” premiered at the Beethovenfest in Bonn in 2024.
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.”