Dear Friends of the Festival,

Young Euro Classic is not a temple of classical music, but a place for vibrant encounters. One highlight of this season is the collaboration between the Jakob Manz Ensemble and Karthik Mani’s Konnakol Ensemble from Southern India. This concert shows that young musicians transcend genre boundaries with impressive ease.

The “YEC im Kiez” (YEC in the neighbourhood) events see musicians from different orchestras pack up their instruments and come to you – to Lichterfelde, Charlottenburg, Mitte or Neukölln. There’s even a children’s concert in the mix!

We look forward to this summer full of musical surprises!

Yours, the Young Euro Classic Team

Unique musical dialogues

The unusual atmosphere at Young Euro Classic does not only unfold between the audience and the orchestras, but also between young musicians from different cultures. These encounters cross borders, enable musical dialogues, and help overcome genre boundaries. 

Fascinating examples include the Ulster Youth Orchestra, bringing together musicians from different communities in Northern Ireland; the Orchestra of the Americas, which is joined by the Penderecki Youth Orchestra for its performance; and two extraordinary jazz projects: the Jakob Manz-Karthik Mani Project and Jong Metropole.

The Ulster Youth Orchestra unites young musicians from different communities in Northern Ireland. It returns to Young Euro Classic for the first time in 18 years. Its very first piece, Sam Kane’s 2026 work “Journey to the Otherworld”, is a German premiere and thus eligible for this year’s European Composition Award.

Another special experience awaits you on August 10 at the Main Auditorium of the Konzerthaus. The Orchestra of the Americas and the Penderecki Youth Orchestra from Poland demonstrate how American-European cooperation can work. The German premiere of a work by the triple Grammy winner Gabriela Ortiz, “Antrópolis”, is a perfect match: contemporary music not as an obligatory intermezzo, but an essential part of today’s repertoire. Like Sam Kane’s piece, it is eligible for this year’s European Composition Award.

Two special recommendations for jazz fans

Jazz has been a fixed part of the Festival’s programme since 2009 – when the German Bundesjazzorchester first appeared at Young Euro Classic. Jazz is definitely a genre in which encounters between different musical styles lead to special results. In the case of the Jakob Manz-Karthik Mani Project, two outstanding ensembles meet this summer: a German jazz trio headed by the celebrated alto saxophone player Jakob Manz, and the Southern Indian ensemble of the renowned konnakol virtuoso and percussionist Karthik Mani.

South American sounds and a surfeit of talent await when Jong Metropole comes to visit from the Netherlands. It combines symphonic richness with swing, improvisation, and the timing of a jazz big band – we bet you won’t be able to sit still … With Chris Muller’s new work "The Other Side", the young jazz crossover specialists also have a German premiere eligible for the European Composition Award.

Photographs: Jimm Corr & Shyam Nanaiah