07:00 pm
Oksana Lyniv Conductor
Illia Ovcharenko Piano
JOHANNES BRAHMS · Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 (1854-1858)
EDUARD RESATSCH · "Reflections of Hope"
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK · Symphony No. 8 G major, op. 88 (1889)
Its concerts are always a sign of hope that there is a life beyond war. In the fourth year of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which of course is a massive threat to musical life in Ukraine, the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine returns to Young Euro Classic for its fourth visit. At the helm is still its founder, the sought-after conductor Oksana Lyniv, who has guided the ensemble to an astonishing level of playing within only a few years – despite all problems. In the beginning, the Ukrainian orchestra presents the monumental First Piano Concerto in D minor by Johannes Brahms; the soloist is Illia Ovcharenko, who at 23 is exactly the age at which Brahms wrote this youthful, powerful work. The climactic end of this year’s programme is the melodious, masterful Eighth Symphony in G major by Antonín Dvořák, which is sure to make both the performers and the Berlin audience forget the events of war(s) for half an hour. Between them stands a work which is “an attempt to capture the unspeakable in notes and lend sound to the imbalance of our time; a reflection on the events of our present time,” as the composer Eduard Resatsch writes about his Reflections of Hope.
The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (YsOU) is a unique project which brings together and nurtures talented young musicians aged 12 to 25. Especially during Russia’s war of aggression, which makes life in Ukraine extremely hard, the project offers young people a space to grow artistically, develop new perspectives and experience a safe community. The orchestra was founded in 2016 at the initiative of the internationally renowned Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv; its first performances took place jointly with the National Youth Orchestra of Germany in 2017. In April 2023, the Berlin Philharmonic took on the patronage of the YsOU. Between 2023 and 2025, the orchestra performed in numerous major concert halls and at international festivals, including BOZAR in Brussels, the Manzoni Auditorium in Bologna, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Lucerne Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Highlights of the 2025/26 season have been the YsOU’s debut at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as its first residency at the Settimane Musicali Ascona in Switzerland. After 2018, 2022 and 2023, the orchestra returns to Young Euro Classic for its fourth appearance.
The Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv, herself the daughter of two musicians, received her musical education at the Music Academy of her native city of Lviv (Lemberg). In 2017, she was appointed Chief Conductor of Graz Opera. From 2022 to 2025, she served as Music Director of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, becoming the first female chief conductor to lead an Italian opera house. With Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer opening the Bayreuth Festival in 2021, she made history as the first woman ever to conduct at the festival. In February 2024, Lyniv made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Highlights of her international career include engagements at the Bavarian State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Opéra national de Paris, Oper Frankfurt and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lyniv has become an important artistic voice for her country on the international music scene. She is deeply committed to the development of classical music in Ukraine. In 2017, she founded the international LvivMozArt Festival in Lviv, inspired by the legacy of Franz Xaver Mozart in the city. In 2016, she initiated the founding of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, which she has shaped and led as Artistic Director ever since.
The 23-year-old Ukrainian pianist Illia Ovcharenko discovered the piano in his earliest childhood; at the age of six, after hearing a concert featuring Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in B-flat minor, he told his mother he wanted to be a pianist. At 12, he gave his concert debut at the National Philharmonic of Kyiv, enrolling at the capital’s State Music High School. Afterwards, Ovcharenko studied at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv; he is currently enrolled in the master’s degree programme of the Hanover Academy of Music. The pianist has won prizes and awards at no less than 20 piano competitions, including a first prize at the 2024 Kissingen Piano Olymp. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Orchestre de La Monnaie in Brussels, the Toronto Symphony, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin, among others. This season, he makes his Wigmore Hall debut in London with a solo recital. Last year, Illia Ovcharenko released his first CD, Litany, featuring works by Sergei Bortkiewicz and Borys Lyatoshynsky. In 2026, another CD featuring piano concertos by Prokofiev, Bortkiewicz and Ravel's piano concerto for left hand follows.