Play. Promote. Inspire.

National Youth Orchestra of Germany, founded by the German Music Council in 1969, is one of the world’s leading youth orchestras. The best young musicians from all over Germany aged between 14 and 19 devote themselves to exacting orchestral works from all periods in an environment of intensive work phases, and demonstrate their skills by holding regular concert tours under the direction of celebrated conductors such as Kurt Masur, Sir Simon Rattle, Kirill Petrenko and Sebastian Weigle.

Ambassadors of German Culture

National Youth Orchestra of Germany has been active in several important projects dealing with contemporary history: It worked together with choreographer John Neumeier and the HAMBURG BALLETT in 2008, visited South Africa as part of the cultural program preceding the World Cup football games in 2010. In 2011, the orchestra returned to Venezuela and Ecuador before appearing in the fall for the first time in the Berlin Philharmonie concert hall, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle.

On the occasion of this concert, a foundation was established to support the National Youth Orchestra of Germany. In 2012, the orchestra musicians traveled to China under the direction of Mario Venzago. Other tours took the Orchestra to Italy, Slovenia, and Tunisia. In a shared concert conducted by Simon Rattle during the Easter Festival in 2013 in Baden-Baden, the Berlin Philharmonic assumed a mentoring role for the National Youth Orchestra of Germany. In 2014, the Orchestra cooperated again with John Neumeier and the HAMBURG BALLETT. In summer, the young musicians toured to Tunisia before performing in autumn a concert for the Federal President of Germany at Schloss Bellevue (Berlin).

Impulses for Life

Many former orchestra members currently play in professional orchestras or are well-known soloists – a testimony to the outstanding worth of this project sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, West German Radio (WDR), Daimler AG, City of Bonn and the German Orchestra Union.

Conductor: Patrick Lange 

Patrick Lange was born near Nuremberg and is among the most promising talents of the young conductors’ generation. As Abado’s assistant he collaborated with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Orchestra Mozart Bologna and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. In 2009 he was on an England tour with the Glyndebourne Opera with Cosi fan tutte. In 2011 he conducted the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields on a Germany tour.

His career as conductor began in Luzern (Falstaff, Don Giovanni). With Le nozze di Figaro he made his debut at the Komische Oper in 2007. Since 2008 he has been first Kapellmeister there, in 2010 he was appointed Chief Conductor of the house (until 2012). In 2010/2011 he opened with Meistersinger, later Rigoletto, Rusalka and Idomeneo followed. In 2011/2012 he for example conducted Freischutz, Der Rosenkavalier and Meistersinger at the Komische Oper Berlin, La traviata at the ROH Covent Garden. At the Vienna State Opera, he will be conducting “Eugen Onegin” and “Tosca”, at the Paris Opera “Don Giovanni”, “Zauberflote” and “Lied von der Erde” (choreography by John Neumeier). Furthermore, he conducts “Ariadne auf Naxos” at the Frankfurt Opera and La Traviata in Hamburg. In concert, he will conduct among others the Tonkunstler Orchestra at the Vienna Musikverein, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Philharmonic Orchestra Graz and the Stuttgart Philharmonic.

Pianist: Herbert Schuch

Herbert Schuch is recognized as one of the most interesting musicians of his generation by virtue of his sophisticated programs and recordings. In 2013 he received the ECHO Klassik for his recording of Viktor Ullmann’s Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, together with the WDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Olari Elts. In 2012 Herbert Schuch was already awarded with an ECHO Klassik in the category “Chamber Music Recording Of The Year” for his CD featuring quintets for piano and winds by Beethoven and Mozart. Herbert Schuch has worked with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Residentie Orkest Den Haag, Bamberger Symphoniker, Dresden Philharmonie, and many radio symphony orchestras. He is a regular guest at festivals such as Kissinger Sommer, Rheingau Musik Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, and Salzburger Festspiele. He collaborates with conductors Pierre Boulez, Douglas Boyd, Lawrence Foster, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Jonathan Nott, Markus Poschner, Michael Sanderling etc. In September 2013, Herbert Schuch also released a solo CD featuring works by Schubert and Janaček.

Herbert Schuch was born in Temesvar (Romania) in 1979. After early piano lessons in his home town, he emigrated with his family in 1988 to Germany, where he now lives. He continued his musical studies with Kurt Hantsch and then with Prof. Karl-Heinz Kammerling at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In the recent past Herbert Schuch has been particularly influenced by his encounters and work with Alfred Brendel. He attracted international attention when he won three important piano competitions - the Casagrande competition, the London International Piano Competition, and the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna - within the space of a single year. Alongside his concert work, Herbert Schuch has been active for some time in the“Rhapsody in School" organization founded by Lars Vogt, which is committed to bringing classical music into schools.

"What an enormous pleasure to meet this wonderful next generation of colleagues! I think the future of orchestras is safe in your hands…"

- Sir Simon Rattle

Programme