Press Release, July 8, 2025

Time for the Future: „FUTURE NOW – Tomorrow’s Traditions Today“

The Festival within the Festival at Young Euro Classic

For the third time, Young Euro Classic presents a festival within the festival: entitled “FUTURE NOW – Tomorrow’s Traditions Today” this year, it features six extraordinary ensembles from Bolivia, Indonesia, Afghanistan (in exile), India, the Gambia and the Sámi Region, who make the traditional sounds of their homelands resound. On the Festival weekends – always at 5 pm – musical innovation is illuminated from various cultural perspectives. With the exception of the Azada Ensemble (in exile) from Afghanistan, which performs at the Französische Friedrichstadtkirche, all concerts take place at the Werner-Otto-Saal of the Konzerthaus Berlin. One new aspect this year is the encounters – dialogues without words – between the FUTURE NOW ensembles and musicians of some of the symphony orchestras featured at Young Euro Classic. These create an improvised musical dialogue between cultures and musical traditions – all without predetermined notes, but with great musical open-mindedness. 

“FUTURE NOW” begins with the Bolivian ensemble Dos Pares de la OEIN (Aug. 2). Four young musicians of the Orquesta Experimental de Instrumentos Nativos combine traditional indigenous instruments with modern forms of expression. Their instruments include sikus, tarkas and pinkillus. New works written especially for this ensemble will be performed alongside traditional melodies, offering insights into the living musical practice of the Indigenous population of Bolivia.  

Spontaneous encounter: The ensemble Dos Pares de la OEIN will be heard on the evening before its own concert, during the festival opening party on August 1, when it is joined by members of the National Youth Orchestra of Romania. Together with several orchestra musicians, they enter into a musical dialogue of their own creation.

The first Festival weekend also features the duo Ale, Ale! from the Sápmi Region in Fennoscandia (Aug. 3). In their programme, Elina Waage Mikalsen and Viktor Bomstad interweave the vocal tradition of the Sámi joik, forbidden for centuries, with elements of Christian church hymns – one of the few forms of vocal music permitted to the Sámi people – and the sonic worlds of electric guitar and synthesizer. The result is an intense, atmospherically dense concert reflecting the history and identity of the Sámi people here and now.

Spontaneous encounter: The ensemble Ale, Ale! will be heard on the evening before its own concert, Aug. 2, during the performance of the Yerevan Youth Symphony Orchestra. Together with several orchestra musicians, they enter into a musical dialogue of their own creation. 

The Indonesian ensemble Simpay Panaratas invites the audience on a journey into the musical world of West Java (Aug. 10). Representing the smallest form of a gamelan orchestra, “Gamelan Degung”, the musicians bring contemporary and traditional compositions to the stage. Drawing upon centuries of traditional religious ceremonies and courtly rituals of Indonesia, meditative sounds of traditional instruments will be heard, for example the tarawangsa, a two-stringed chordophone, one of whose strings is played with a round bow, the other only plucked, the gong and the kacapi, a zither-like instrument of the gamelan orchestra. 

Spontaneous encounter: The ensemble Simpay Panaratas will be heard on the evening before its own concert, on Aug. 9, during the concert of the Tbilisi Youth Orchestra. Together with several orchestra musicians, they enter into a musical dialogue of their own creation. 

The concert of the Azada Ensemble in Exile on Aug. 15 at the Französische Friedrichstadtkirche is dedicated entirely to resistance, hope and freedom. The musicians were forced to flee from the Taliban to Europe in 2021. From traditional ragas to folk dances and instrumental versions of popular songs, the ensemble presents an impressive spectrum of its homeland’s musical culture. In doing so, it interprets timeless melodies of its homeland, effortlessly combining the sonic colours of Afghan instruments such as the rubab or santur with those of cello, flute and clarinet. A conversation between the founder of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, and the ethnologist Dr. Willi Steul about the moving story of the ensemble musicians complements the musical performance.

The Karthik Mani India Ensemble (Aug. 16) takes the audience on a journey into the world of Carnatic music from Southern India. Under the leadership of the internationally acclaimed percussionist Karthik Mani, young musicians from the Karnataka College of Percussion set the beat. The virtuosity and energy of konnakol – a form of vocal percussion – merge with the impressive sounds of the Southern Indian drums mridangam, ghatam and tabla. The jaw harp morsing is played, complementing the rhythmic journey between tradition and contemporary sound art. The concert is presented in cooperation with the Embassy of India in Berlin and the Tagore Centre.

Spontaneous encounter: The Karthik Mani India Ensemble will be heard on the evening before its own concert, on Aug. 15, during the concert of the O/Modernt New Generation Symphony Orchestra. Together with several orchestra musicians, they enter into a musical dialogue of their own creation. 

For the finale of the festival within the festival, The Gambiana Trio allows the audience to share its curiosity for a multitude of musical forms of expression (Aug. 17). Not only centuries-old musical traditions of the Griot families from the Gambia but also jazz and singer-songwriter influences will be audible. The trio’s mentor, the renowned kora virtuoso Sona Jobarteh, supports the ease and playfulness with which the three musicians move between genre boundaries.

Spontaneous encounter: The Gambiana Trio will be heard on the evening before its own concert, on Aug. 16, during the concert of the Orchestre Français des Jeunes. Together with several orchestra musicians, they enter into a musical dialogue of their own creation.

FUTURE NOW - Tomorrow’s Traditions Today
Festival within the Festival – Programme Overview

Dos Pares de la OEIN / Bolivia
Saturday, August 2, 2025 at 5 pm
Werner-Otto-Saal, Konzerthaus Berlin

Ale, Ale! / Sámi Region
Sunday, August 3, 2025 at 5 pm
Werner-Otto-Saal, Konzerthaus Berlin

Simpay Panaratas / Indonesia
Sunday, August 10, 2025 at 5 pm
Werner-Otto-Saal, Konzerthaus Berlin

Azada Ensemble / Afghanistan (in Exile)
Friday, August 15, 2025 at 5 pm
Französische Friedrichstadtkirche

The Karthik Mani India Ensemble / India
Saturday, August 16, 2025 at 5 pm
Werner-Otto-Saal, Konzerthaus Berlin

The Gambiana Trio / The Gambia
Sunday, August 17, 2025 at 5 pm
Werner-Otto-Saal, Konzerthaus Berlin

Tomorrow’s musicians today!
Young Euro Classic. The Festival of the World’s Best Youth Orchestras 
August 1-17, 2025 at the Konzerthaus Berlin
The detailed Festival programme is available from April 10 at:
www.young-euro-classic.de

Please note: all evening concerts begin at 7 pm in 2025!

Ticket price categories 36 € / 27 € / 16 € (plus advance ticketing fees).
Tickets can be purchased via the Young Euro Classic website, the Ticket Hotline 
(+49 / (0)30 / 8410 8909, Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm) and at all regular ticket sales points.
Festival within the Festival “FUTURE NOW”: all individual tickets 18 €
Festival Pass for all five “FUTURE NOW” concerts: 70 €
Festival Pass for a selection of three “FUTURE NOW” concerts: 45 €

Download the press release as pdf here.