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NEWS | EFNYO is delighted to welcome the Slovenian Youth Orchestra (SMO) as full national member

At the recent General Assembly held in Athens, June 2022, Živa Ploj Peršuh, artistic director of SMO together with Tomo Peršuh, SMO's general manager, introduced their initiative to EFNYO delegates with an inspiring presentation of their active and engaged work. The General Assembly has therefore unanimously approved their full membership application.

The Slovenian Youth Orchestra was established in 2019 in cooperation with international and local partners, to become an essential cultural representative and stand alongside the leading youth orchestras of most EU countries.

Every summer new members are invited to join the orchestra. The orchestra's multigenre programme is dedicated to young musicians from the ages of 12 to 22 years. Besides socialising and making music, orchestra members are encouraged to develop an enthusiasm for music and the arts in general. As a further step, the most talented emerging Slovenian musicians up to the age of 26 are recruited through annual auditions. In addition to their level of playing and search for the perfect sound, SMO encourages individual responsibility, and motivates musicians to set themselves the highest possible goals.

The Slovenian Youth Orchestra project opens up unparalleled opportunities for representing the enormous cultural potential of their country.
EFNYO members are looking forward to further collaboration within the framework of SMO's upcoming projects!

For more information about the projects and work of the Slovenian Youth Orchestra, make sure to visit their webpage: https://smo.ngo

NEWS | EFNYO welcomes the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine as a full national member

EFNYO is delighted to announce that an application by the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine has been accepted at EFNYO's General Assembly, held in Athens in June 2022. Welcoming YsOU to the EFNYO family is a strong sign of European support for Ukrainian young musicians and their families, who need our help in times of devastating war developments. We are happy to start exchanging ideas and planning collaborations with our new partner, as well as to support them in their endeavors towards rebuilding a peaceful Ukraine with the power of music.

«With this project we give Ukrainian musical youth a chance to speak up in a European context, to develop joint values and to be part of a worldwide cultural community, which is priceless!» says Alexandra Zaitseva, director of the YsOU.

The Youth symphony Orchestra of Ukraine/YsOU (Молодіжний симфонічний оркестр України) is a unique musical project that brings together young musicians aged 12 to 22 from all over Ukraine. The Orchestra was founded in 2016 at the initiative of Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv. Her idea was supported by three German partner institutions: Beethovenfest Bonn, Bundesjugendorchester Deutschland and Deutsche Welle.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine has initiated a large-scale evacuation project for young Ukrainian musicians in cooperation with the Slovenian Youth Orchestra: “Music for the Future” in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

In the summer of 2022, the YsOU toured throughout Europe under the slogan «United for the future», conveying a strong message for peace, justice and freedom. The tour included more than 30 concerts in 10 big festivals in Germany, Switzerland and Austria: Bachfest Leipzig, Munich Opera Festival, Lucerne Festival, Young Euro Classic Festival , Beethovenfest Bonn, and Herbstgold Eisenstadt, to name a few.

For more information, please visit the website of YsOU: https://ysou.com.ua/en/

NEWS | EFNYO General Assembly & Annual Conference takes place in Athens, June 2022, after a two-year break

EFNYO's General Assembly & Annual Conference took place in Athens/Greece between June 9th and June 12th, 2022. EFNYO’s delegates were kindly hosted by our Greek partner, the Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra. The meetings were held in the Library of the Megaron – Athens Concert Hall, which has recently become the residence of GYSO.

The Conference discussions highlighted the importance of in-person meetings after a longer pause due to the pandemic. EFNYO’s members were all facing similar difficulties, which were retrospectively explained during the talks. The value of the exchange based exclusively on Zoom-meetings during this hard period came once more to the fore. We addressed problems with music education in different European countries. We also exchanged some important ideas about employability of young musicians and the need to diversify their skills in order to pursue a successful career as a musician. In further meetings during the conference, we were pleased to welcome esteemed guest speakers, Mrs Eva Lianou, the general manager of John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, and Mr. Janis Vakarelis, the artistic director of Megaron.

Furthermore, not only has EFNYO accepted GYSO as a full national member, Dionysis Grammenos, GYSO’s artistic director, was elected to the EFNYO board. Through GYSO’s very active and professional involvement in the programme MusXchange in the past 4 years of their associated membership, as well as through progress made as a pre-professional youth orchestra, GYSO has proven that it has all it takes to become a full member.

In addition to that, Živa Ploj Peršuh (Slovenian National Youth Orchestra) and Alexandra Zaitseva (Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine) presented their new youth orchestra initiatives and explained they were keen on joining the EFNYO network. They shared some inspiring and moving stories with us, including their most important projects and activities. The General Assembly decided to welcome them as full national members of EFNYO, as of year 2022.

Another round table was dedicated to upcoming projects and the adaptation of the MusX work programme for 2023, and was illustrated by presentations, talks and videos.

The General Assembly & Annual Conference was crowned with the open-air visit to the Opera at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, within the Athens-Epidaurus Festival.

NEWS |26. - 27.03.2021 | Online colloquium hosted by the Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie de Paris

Hosted by the Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie de Paris, the online conference "How can young musicians learn to become professional orchestra players?" took place on Friday, March 26th, and Saturday, March 27th, 2021.

The conference focused on the important role national youth orchestras and orchestra academies play for the development of career paths of aspiring professional musicians. The online event featured presentations, panels and round table discussions including a host of speakers on various related topics. Following introductions by Emmanuel Hondré (Directeur du département concerts & spectacles, Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie de Paris), Deborah Borda (CEO and president, New York Philharmonic Orchestra), and Vincent Agrech (Journalist), Renate Böck (EFNYO president) and Pierre Barrois (OFJ, director) held a presentation on "Youth orchestras in France and worldwide: identifying synergies with orchestra academies".

Further topics of Friday's programme focused on "The acquisition of artistic skills needed to play as part of a group", and "Specialised repertoire and expected skills". Guest speakers included Emilie Delorme (Director, Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris), Marshall Marcus (Chief Executive Officer, EUYO), Rachel Dale (Education and Outreach Manager, Orchestre de Paris), Stephen McHolm (Academy Director, Verbier Festival) and Peter Riegelbauer (Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic).

Saturday's programme included sessions on "Training and awareness of future musicians in orchestral governance", "Leading music in communities: Musician training and skills", and "Raising awareness on health issues for musicians" including speakers Barbara Smith (CEO, National Youth Orchestra of Canada), Andra East (Director, LSO Discovery, London Symphony Orchestra), and Donald Glowinski (Researcher in neuropsychology, University of Geneva).

A publication with the summary of the 2-day colloquium will be made by Donald Glowinski (University of Geneva) and will be available soon. Watch out here for more information!

NEWS |13.03.2019 | Associated Membership Greek Youth Symphony Orchestra

EFNYO is delighted to announce that the Greek Youth Sympony Orchestra has chosen to be part of the EFNYO network and will join the federation's activities from 2019 onwards. Already in March 2019, a musician of the GYSO will take part in a European bootcamp dedicated to the training of young musicians in the field of music communication and outreach skills in Glasgow. EFNYO wishes its new Greek member a thriving future, and is more than happy to share the results of the emerging collaboration.

For more information please see the website of GYSO.

NEWS |09.09.2018 | Collaboration between EFNYO and ONE (Orchestra Network for Europe)

EFNYO is happy to announce that fourteen talented young musicians from six national youth orchestras (Austria, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Spain) have been offered the opportunity to take part in a series of internships with the Orchestre de Picardie, Amiens (France) during September to December 2018. The internships are organised under EFNYO's strand "MusXchange-goes professional" in collaboration with the Orchestre de Picardie as lead partner of ONE - an Orchestra Network for Europe.

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