BYP Tour Brochure 2011 - Baltic Youth Philharmonic

Kristjan Järvi, Founding Conductor & Music Director 

Baltic Youth 

Baltic Youth 

Philharmonic 

Philharmonic 

ANew Voice in theNorth 

A New Voice in the North

2 

πbremen 

π 

københavn 

π 

peenemünde 

π 

szczecin 

berlin 

π 

BYP Concerts 

2008 – 2011 

πstockholm 

gdansk π 

π 

kaliningrad 

l 

milano 

π 

helsinki 

π 

tallinn 

pärnu 

π 

πr - iga 

π 

tartu 

πkaunas 

πvilnius 

l 

meran 

π 

st. petersburg 

Welcome to the 2011 Season of the 

Baltic Youth Philharmonic! 

We are delighted to present to you the fourth season of BYP. The orchestra, 

initiated in 2008 by Nord Stream AG and the Usedom Music Festival, continues 

to fulfill its challenging goals, uniting music academy students from all of the 

Baltic Sea States, giving them an opportunity to live, learn and perform together. 

How quickly they overcome these challenges, growing together and forming a 

New Voice in the North, is obvious in each of the nine concerts that form the 

orchestra’s 2011 season. 

Around 400 young musicians auditioned in Berlin, Gothenburg, Vilnius, Tallinn, 

St. Petersburg and Copenhagen this year, and about 100 were selected for participation. 

All concerts will be conducted by its Founding Conductor & Music Director 

Kristjan Järvi, a committed advocate of music education. During the “BYP 

Lab” in Kaunas, Lithuania, internationally renowned instrumentalists coached 

these talented musicians in preparation for the series of concerts this year. The 

educational aspects of BYP were complemented by a Composers’ Workshop led 

by Daniel Schnyder, offering young composers the chance to work closely with 

the orchestra, its conductor and coaches. 

Once again, BYP tours through the Baltic Sea region, appearing in Kaunas, Kaliningrad, 

Szczecin, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Tallinn, and finally coming home 

to the island of Usedom to perform once again in Peenemünde. 

We are proud that the orchestra has grown so much since 2008 and is fulfilling 

the great promise of its beginnings. We are also delighted to welcome Saipem 

as sponsor of the 2011 tour, whose support has allowed the orchestra to travel to 

Italy for the first time, giving concerts in Merano and Milano. 

We wish all concert-goers a delightful time discovering the Baltic Youth 

Philharmonic! 

Thomas Hummel 

artistic director 

usedom music festival 

Matthias Warnig 

managing director 

nord stream ag 

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A Message of Greeting from 

Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the 

Federal Republic of Germany 

The Baltic Youth Philharmonic is a wonderful ambassador for the cultural cooperation 

of the countries bordering the Baltic Sea. Talented and excellently 

trained young musicians show the impressive ease with which they transcend 

the borders of varying backgrounds, different languages and artistic traditions. 

The orchestra they have in common, founded only a few years ago, is convincing 

in its surprising homogeneity. This is due to the high musical level of the 

open-minded ensemble, but also the activities of the organizers and coordinators, 

and especially the sensitivity of the Estonian conductor Kristjan Järvi. 

As a new voice in the north, the orchestra emphasizes how valuable a stronger 

network throughout the Baltic Sea Region is – a goal the states bordering the 

Baltic have long pursued with determination. In order to overcome dividing 

lines caused by painful historical events and to use their common potential, 

they founded the Council of the Baltic Sea States almost twenty years ago. 

In its current Presidency, Germany wishes to advance cooperation mainly in 

questions of business and energy, ecological issues, the area of civil security 

and not least in education and culture. This is another reason why I am pleased 

to take on the patronage of this year’s tour of the Baltic Youth Philharmonic. 

The integrating power of art and the original meaning of phil - harmony, a love 

of harmony, bring people closer together. That is what the Baltic Youth Philharmonic 

stands for and what it documents impressively. In this spirit, I wish the 

orchestra good luck and success for its upcoming tour. 

dr. angela merkel, 

chancellor of the federal republic of germany 

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Concerts 

The 2011 Tour of the Baltic Youth Philharmonic is under the Patronage of 

Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, on the occasion 

of the German Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States this year. 

Kaunas 

July 30, 2011, 6:00 pm 

Pazaislio Festival: Kauno Filharmonija 

M. K. Ciurlionis, ˇ 

In the Forest 

C. Nielsen, Violin Concerto, Op. 33 

(Mikhail Simonyan, soloist) 

D. Schnyder, parkour musical 

D. Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5, Op. 47 

Kaliningrad 

July 31, 2011, 7:00 pm 

Sobor Cathedral 

J. Brahms, Academic Festival Overture 



S. Prokofiev, Symphony No. 5, Op. 100 

Szczecin 

August 1, 2011, 7:00 pm 

Filharmonia 

W. Kilar, Orawa 




Copenhagen 

August 6, 2011, 7:30 pm 

Tivoli Concert Hall 



D. Shostakovich, Symphony No. 5, Op. 47 

Patron: Bertel Haarder, 

Danish Minister of the Interior and Health 

All concerts are conducted by Kristjan Järvi 

Stockholm 

September 2, 2011, 7:30 pm 

Baltic Sea Festival: Berwaldhallen 

“Baltic Voyage” 

Tallinn 


Arvo Pärt Festival: Estonia Concert Hall 


Plus special feature: Arvo Pärt, 

Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten 

Merano 


Meraner Festwochen: Kursaal 

“Baltic Voyage“ 

Milano 


MiTo Festival: Sala Verdi, 

Conservatorio Milano 


Peenemünde 

October 1, 2011, 8:00 pm 

Usedomer Musikfestival: 

Kraftwerk Peenemünde 

M. K. Ciurlionis, ˇ In the Forest 

P.I. Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Op. 35 



Baltic Voyage Program 

Carl Nielsen: 

Maskarade Overture 

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: 

Scherzo from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61 

Johannes Brahms: 

Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 

Carl Nielsen: 

An Imaginary Journey to the Faroe Islands Overture (excerpt) 

Ole Bull: 

Solitude sur la Montagne 

Hugo Alfvén: 

Valflickans Dans (from Bergakungen, Op. 37) 

Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis: ˇ 

In the Forest (Milano only) 

Five Preludes (excerpts) 

Mikhail Glinka: 

Kamarinskaya 

Eduard Tubin: 

Setu Tants (No. 3 from Three Estonian Dances, ETW 15) 

Wojciech Kilar: 

Orawa 

Edvard Grieg: 

At the Wedding (from Peer Gynt, Op. 23) 

Wilhelm Stenhammar: 

Mellanspel (from Sangen, Op. 44) 

Jean Sibelius: 

Lemminkainen Returns (No. 4 from Lemminkainen Suite, Op. 22) 

Imants Kalnins: 

Rock Symphony, 1st Movement (excerpt) 

Dmitri Shostakovich: 

Festive Overture, Op. 96 

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Notes on the Program 

The composers of grand violin concertos either consulted professional violinists 

(as Johannes Brahms did with Joseph Joachim) or ran the risk of being accused 

that their pieces were unplayable, as Ludwig van Beethoven found out. 

Carl Nielsen had nothing to fear on this account. He was an excellent violinist 

himself and a member of the orchestra of the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen. 

In the summer of 1911, he received an invitation from Nina Grieg, the widow 

of Edvard Grieg, who had died in 1907, to spend a few days at the country house 

Troldhaugen near Bergen. There, Nielsen made the first sketches for his violin 

concerto, dedicated to the Danish violinist Peder Møller, who also gave the work 

its first performance on February 28, 1912 in Copenhagen, with Carl Nielsen conducting. 

Pensive lyricism and robust self-assurance, modern voice-leading and 

folk-like dance rhythms meet in this work. Taken literally, the description cavalleresco 

in the first Allegro means “knightly”, but in Nielsen’s case – he remained 

a rascal all his life – it really means “naughty”. This naughtiness is followed by 

a lyric intermezzo in which the oboe highlights the notes B-flat-A-C-B (or, in 

German notation, B-A-C-H). After all, professional knowledge, historic awareness 

and vitality always intermingle in Nielsen’s works. In his violin concerto, the 

son of a village fiddler wanted to present the violin “in the best possible light: 

detailed, popular and virtuosic, without falling into superficiality. Contradictions 

must be borne out and gathered within a larger whole. I quite enjoy that.” 

Piotr Tchaikovsky approached music from the perspective of piano and singing. 

This makes it unsurprising that his Violin Concerto Op. 35 was also considered 

unplayable by various virtuosos. However, the composer had an able advisor 

when he wrote the piece: the young violinist Joseph Kotek. After an ill-considered 

marriage and a hasty separation from his wife, Tchaikovsky left Russia and 

retreated to Switzerland, spending some months around New Year’s Eve of 

1877/1878 in Clarens on Lake Geneva. His former student Kotek, with whom he 

also had a romantic relationship, joined him there; it is due to his specialized 

knowledge that the violin concerto which was slowly emerging conformed to the 

instrument’s specifics. As always in his works, Tchaikovsky combines incredible 

constructive detail in his motifs with highly catchy melodies. He wrote from 

Clarens to his patroness Nadezhda von Meck that he particularly enjoyed the lyricism 

of the middle movement, a canzonetta, due to its dampened sound-colors 

and mysterious technique of concealment. The finale provides artistic virtuosity 

of the best kind. The Viennese critic Eduard Hanslick, who wrote in 1881 that here 

was music which stank to the ear, thereby sank not only far below his own level, 

but disgraced himself to this day in the eyes of an enthusiastic musical public. 

After his Symphony No. 4 and his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, 

Dmitri Shostakovich suffered vicious public attacks in the Soviet Union. It is 

suspected that Stalin himself had launched this smear-campaign. Subsequently, 

the composer lived in constant fear of death. In a public act of repentance, he 

labeled his Symphony No. 5, written in 1937, the “creative answer of a Soviet artist 

to justified criticism”. Instead of the shrill irony and sarcastic force of earlier 

works, the beginning of the symphony resounds with a pathos that goes back 

to Johann Sebastian Bach. Furthermore, the third movement demonstrates the 

great admiration Shostakovich held for Gustav Mahler. At the time, the shining 

D-Major ending of the finale may have been heard as an expression of the optimism 

demanded of socialist art. However, Shostakovich later said that it was the 

optimism of a gathering being beaten by the authorities and forced to “rejoice” 

at any cost. 

During World War II, Sergei Prokofiev composed his grand opera War and Peace, 

based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy. After this work, he retreated to the small 

village of Ivanovo in the summer of 1944, where the Soviet Composers’ Union 

maintained a “House of Creation”. Inspired by the news of the Red Army’s 

victories against the German Wehrmacht, the Symphony No. 5 was written there. 

The transparent instrumentation and clear structure of the work are reminiscent 

of the composer’s impressive ballets. In his own words, Prokofiev wished to 

praise “the free and happy Man, his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit”. 

When the composer lifted his baton on January 13, 1945 in Moscow to conduct 

the work’s premiere, the thundering of cannons was heard. News had just been 

received that the Red Army had crossed the Vistula River. After the salutes were 

over, the symphony was heard for the first time. 

The saxophonist and composer Daniel Schnyder has worked with Kristjan Järvi, 

the Baltic Youth Philharmonic’s Founding Conductor & Music Director, for many 

years. In 2010, BYP commissioned a work for large orchestra from him entitled 

parkour musical, and gave its world premiere at Berlin’s Konzerthaus. Extremely 

difficult rhythms influenced by jazz and African and Latin-American folklore,which 

hardly ever appear in the classical repertoire, challenge the orchestral players to 

expand their technique. Fast-paced and entertaining, parkour musical makes the 

musicians sweat and the audience want to dance. 

9


In 1760, James Macpherson published a book entitled Fragments of Ancient 

suite Bergakungen (Mountain King) which Hugo Alfvén wrote between 1916 and 

Poetry, collected in the Highlands of Scotland and translated from the Galic or Erse 

1923, based on an old Swedish legend. He also collected numerous folk songs 

language. Although it was soon discovered that the poems did not originate with 

in the Swedish province of Dalarna, but was not averse to Grieg and Richard 

the blind bard Ossian in prehistoric times, but were Macpherson’s own inven- 

Strauss either. Alfvén’s compatriot and contemporary Wilhelm Stenhammar had 

tions, the book enjoyed tremendous success and changed European culture: the 

even more affection for the Germans. He was fascinated by Brahms and Strauss, 

cultural monopoly that the Mediterranean region held had been broken. Sudden- 

and only changed his attitude under the impression of Carl Nielsen’s and Jean 

ly, the North had a new fascination, and its folklore became worthy of art. The 

Sibelius’ music, whom he championed as a conductor. His late cantata Sangen of 

Baltic Sea region was quick to react. Johann Gottfried Herder began to collect 

1921 shows how important the “Nordic tone” had become to him during the last 

European folk songs in 1764 in Riga. He began with Latvian and German ones, 

years of his life. 

and starting in 1769 these collections were published, together with Herder’s 

For one of his first attempts in the orchestra genre, Jean Sibelius was inspired 

Ossian translation, in Riga. 

by the old Finnish Kalevala epos. His Four Legends Op. 22 recount the tale of the 

Johannes Brahms, born in Hamburg, was influenced early on by Herder and set 

young hero Lemminkäinen, who chases the girls and one day loses his way and 

several texts from his Voices of the People in Songs. The University of Breslau 

finds himself in Tuonela, the realm of the dead. Ultimately, however, and that 

(Wroclaw) awarded Brahms an honorary doctorate in March of 1879. One year 

is the fourth scene we hear today, Lemminkäinen returns home with a fatalistic 

later, his gratitude took the form of the Academic Festival Overture Op. 80, which 

cheerfulness. 

quotes several folk songs, including Der Fuchs geht durch den Wald (The Fox 

Eduard Tubin is often called the “Estonian Sibelius” today, in recognition of his 

goes through the Woods) and culminates in the students’ drinking hymn Gaude- 

great contributions to the symphonic genre. He grew up in a village on the Baltic 

amus igitur. 

Sea, where he taught himself to play the flute, balalaika, violin and piano. Five of 

Starting in 1770, the general enthusiasm for the North was also accompanied 

his ten symphonies were written after 1944, when he was in exile in Sweden. His 

by a discovery of Shakespeare’s oeuvre in continental Europe, led by Herder 

Dance Suite, however, is from his early years, when he was especially close to his 

and Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who was a perso- 

native folk music. 

nal friend of Goethe’s, wrote an overture to Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s 

Only one year after Tubin, Dmitri Shostakovich was born in St. Petersburg. Even 

Dream at the age of only 16 and followed this up in 1843 with a full set of inci- 

if today, his music is read – rightfully – as the testament of a man tortured by 

dental music. Its Scherzo came to be regarded as the epitome of Mendelssohn’s 

Stalin’s regime, one should not forget how much Shostakovich loved entertaining 

“fairy and elf music”. 

music, especially gypsy romances. His Festive Overture Op. 96, written in 1954, 

In 1927, the Danish composer Carl Nielsen traveled from the Baltic Sea to the 

is an example for the virtuosity with which he captured the cheerful atmosphere 

Northern Atlantic with his Rhapsodic Overture An Imaginary Journey to the Faroe 

of popular festivities. – In Warsaw, which was then part of Russia, Mikhail Glinka 

Islands. This portrait of a stormy landscape also contains a folk tune that was 

wrote an orchestral fantasy in 1848, amalgamating two Russian folk melodies: 

very well-known in Denmark: Påskeklokken kimed mildt (The Easter Bell Rings 

the wedding song From the Mountains, the High Mountains and the whimsical 

Gently). Nielsen’s overture for Maskarade, however, refers to a comedy by Ludvig 

dance Kamarinskaya. Using very colorful changes of instruments, Glinka cons- 

Holberg, who was born in Bergen and worked in 18th century Copenhagen. Nieltantly 

sheds a new light on the melodies, and Tchaikovsky remarked later that 

sen pays homage to him in an idiosyncratic neo-rococo style, as Edvard Grieg 

this short piece contains all of Russian music, like an acorn harbors an oak. 

had already done in his suite From Holberg’s Time. Edvard Grieg then takes us 

The composer Imants Kalnins ¸ ˇ has also been a politician and leader of several 

into the midst of Norwegian village life with the overture The Wedding Court for 

rock bands in his life. His Rock Symphony stands for everything that has been 

Henrik Ibsen’s drama Peer Gynt. For folk dances like “halling” and “springdans”, 

important to him over the past fifty years: to combine the symphonic and oratorio 

a solo violist imitates the sound of a traditional Hardanger fiddle. Supposedly, 

the real-life model for the storyteller, globetrotter and swindler Peer Gynt was 

tradition with youth culture and the national Latvian independence movement. 

Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, ˇ painter and composer, is the most important 

the violinist, composer and politician Ole Bull. He founded the first Norwegian 

figure in Lithuanian art. His symbolist paintings are famous all over Europe. 

theater in Bergen and appointed the young Ibsen as its artistic director. Bull’s 

His symphonic poem In the Forest (1901) marked the beginning of Lithuanian 

Solitude sur la montagne, also known as Melancholy, is a musical heart-breaker in 

orchestral music and resembles the early nature portraits of Antonín Dvorák; 

Norway to this day. The Dance of the Shepherd Girls forms the finale of the ballet 

its compositional technique follows Richard Strauss. Ciurlionis’ Préludes were 

10 11

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originally piano pieces, arranged here for orchestra. They ˇ 

reveal his exploration 

of Lithuanian folk music and Fryderyk Chopin’s oeuvre. And among all Polish 

composers after Chopin, Wojciech Kilar has probably reached the largest audience. 

His film scores for Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula and 

Roman Polanski’s The Pianist made him world-famous. Orawa, written for string 

orchestra in 1988, harkens back to the folklore of the Górale mountain people of 

the High Tatra, developing short melodic fragments in the minimal music style. 

Jan Brachmann 

Translation: Alexa Nieschlag 

Mikhail Simonyan, Violin 

Mikhail Simonyan, Violin 

Still in his early twenties, Mikhail Simonyan is already recognized as one of the 

most celebrated talents of his generation. The New York Times has praised his 

“breadth, lyricism and fleet technique”. Mr. Simonyan, who hails from Novosibirsk, 

began to study the violin at the age of five. In 1999, at 13, Mr. Simonyan 

made his acclaimed New York debut at Lincoln Center with the American Russian 

Young Artists Orchestra (ARYO) and his debut in St. Petersburg, Russia at 

the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre in ARYO‘s joint concert with the Mariinsky Youth 

Orchestra, performing the Szymanowski Violin Concerto No. 1 (which he had 

just learned for the occasion). 

Mr. Simonyan has won several awards, including the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation 

Award, and received the 2000 Virtuoso of the Year award in Saint Petersburg. 

In 2003, the National Academy of Achievement selected him for an award 

in the Performing Arts. In 2005, he received the highest level of recognition when 

President Putin received him at the Kremlin, in acknowledgment of his status 

as one of Russia‘s most promising young musicians. In 2008, he won the Young 

Artist Award from the Classical Recording Foundation. 

Recent highlights for Mr. Simonyan include his debut with the New Jersey 

Symphony led by Kristjan Järvi; a recital during the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 

Musikfestival in Germany; appearances with the Seoul Philharmonic, the Vienna 

Tonkünstler Orchestra at the Musikverein, and recitals in the United States and 

Russia. 

In June 2010, Mr. Simonyan made his debut with the New York Philharmonic at 

Lincoln Center‘s Avery Fisher Hall. The 2010–2011 season saw his recital debut 

at the Verbier Festival and debuts with the NHK Symphony Orchestra performing 

the Sibelius Violin Concerto under Sir Neville Marriner, with the Dresden Philharmonic 

and Rafael Fruebeck de Burgos, and with the Royal Scottish National 

Orchestra led by Kristjan Järvi. 

Mr. Simonyan has performed with, among others, the Russian National Orchestra, 

the Kirov Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Kremlin Chamber 

Orchestra, the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic, 

the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and the Moscow 

Virtuosi. He has worked with conductors including Valery Gergiev, Mikhail Pletnev, 

Constantine Orbelian, Vladimir Spivakov, Arnold Katz, Kristjan Järvi, Leon 

Botstein, and the late Yehudi Menuhin. 

Mr. Simonyan, who studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, continues 

to work with Victor Danchenko in the United States and lives in New York. 

He plays a Giuseppe Gagliano violin made in Napoli, Italy in 1769. In his spare 

time, Mr. Simonyan takes flying lessons and is an avid skydiver. 

www.mikhailsimonyan.com 

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14 

Kristjan Järvi 

Founding Conductor & Music Director 

Estonian-born and American-raised, conductor Kristjan Järvi is a unique musical 

personality pushing classical music borders with fresh ideas, charisma and technical 

prowess. Hailed by the New York Times as “a kinetic force on the podium, 

like Leonard Bernstein reborn,” Järvi has combined his classical roots and affinity 

for traditional repertoire with an infectious enthusiasm for creating original programs; 

propelling classical concert halls around the globe into the 21st Century. 

Mr. Järvi has recently been appointed music director of the Leipzig Radio Symphony 

Orchestra (MDR), beginning his tenure in the 2012–2013 season. 

Kristjan Järvi’s name has become synonymous with artistic and cultural diversity, 

embodied in his roles as Artistic Advisor to the Basel Chamber Orchestra 

and Founder and Music Director of New York’s Absolute Ensemble. His imaginative 

programming has been embraced by leaders of classical, jazz and world 

music spheres alike. Järvi’s authentic commitment to all genres is reflected in his 

collaborations with Arvo Pärt, Tan Dun, John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, H.K 

Gruber, Renee Fleming, Joe Zawinul, Benny Andersson, Goran Bregovic, Paquito 

d’Rivera, Eitetsu Hayashi and Marcel Khalife. Kristjan Järvi has actively sought 

the commission of over 100 new works. 

Kristjan Järvi is a dynamic and enterprising music educator. He is Founding 

Conductor and Music Director of the Baltic Youth Philharmonic. With the support 

of such colleagues as Valery Gergiev, Kurt Masur, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Marek 

Janowski and Mariss Jansons, the Baltic Youth Philharmonic aims to become 

an education and performance hub for the Baltic region. 

Additionally, Järvi is Founder and Music Director of the Absolute Academy (resident 

annually at Musikfest Bremen) and co-founder of the Muusikaselts Estonian 

Orphanage Program. Mr. Järvi has worked with Japan’s Hyogo Youth Orchestra, 

the Norwegian Youth Orchestra, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Sydney Sinfonia 

and the National Repertory Orchestra, Colorado. 

Kristjan Järvi is highly sought-after as a guest conductor. He appears regularly 

and exclusively in London with the London Symphony Orchestra. Further guest 

conducting engagements in the past seasons include concerts with Staatskapelle 

Dresden; Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhaus Orchestra 

Leipzig; NDR Hamburg; Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra; City of Birmingham 

Symphony Orchestra; Orchestre National de France; Orchestre de Paris; 

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Rome; National Symphony Orchestra, 

Washington; Sydney Symphony; and NHK Symphony Japan. 

Kristjan Järvi is a passionate recording artist with more than 25 albums to his 

credit. He has received a list of accolades, including a Swedish Grammy for 

Best Opera Performance, the German Record Critics Prize for Best Album and 

a Grammy Nomination. The 2009 Chandos release of Bernstein’s epic Mass 

was met with widespread acclaim and was Gramophone Magazine’s “Editor’s 

Choice.” Other recent releases include Haydn’s Paris Symphonies and Schmidt’s 

Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln. In 2009 Kristjan Järvi released Mahler’s little-known 

arrangement of Beethoven 9 with the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra; and Absolute 

Zawinul – the late Joe Zawinul’s last studio recording. Most recently, Järvi 

recorded Arvo Pärt’s newly commissioned Stabat Mater with the Berlin Radio 

Symphony Orchestra. The recording, Cantique, marks Järvi‘s first record release 

since becoming an exclusive Sony Classical artist in June 2010. 

An accomplished pianist, Kristjan Järvi studied piano at the Manhattan School 

of Music and conducting at the University of Michigan. He began his career 

assisting Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, followed by Chief 

Conductor and Music Director posts at both the Norrlands Opera and Symphony 

Orchestra, Sweden (2000–2004) and the Tonkünstler Orchestra, Vienna (2004– 

2009). In 2007 Musikfest Bremen honored Kristjan Järvi and Absolute Ensemble 

with the Deutsche Bank Prize in recognition of Outstanding Artistic Achievement. 

Kristjan Järvi makes his home in Florida together with his wife and four children. 

www.kristjanjarvi.com 


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The Baltic Youth Philharmonic 

It is an enormous joy and privilege to jam with young people who are as in touch 

with the classical musical culture as with the very one they are creating. Youth 

Orchestras are able to play as all orchestras should: without borders, boundaries 

and judgment. The Baltic Youth Philharmonic was initiated with this spirit and 

is the perfect breeding ground for combining great music and great fun. 


The Baltic Youth Philharmonic brings together the most promising young musicians 

aged 19 to 30 from music academies in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, 

Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany to create A New Voice 

in the North, a unique sound and experience that draws upon the richness of 

the region’s diversity. The innovative training orchestra, a joint initiative of the 

Usedom Music Festival and Nord Stream AG, was founded in 2008. Its Founding 

Conductor and Music Director is Kristjan Järvi. The musicians are challenged 

to overcome cultural differences to forge, in record time, an orchestra that tours 

the Baltic region and beyond. Through communication, teamwork and personal 

interaction, the Baltic Youth Philharmonic shapes and broadens the outlook of 

talented young musicians, both as members of the orchestra and as citizens of 

the world. 

The orchestra performs a broad repertoire, ranging from classic and romantic 

to contemporary works. One of its special concerns is promoting the work of 

composers from the Baltic Sea region. Commissioned works so far have included 

Niels Marthinsen’s Burning Fiery Furnace in 2008 and Anatolijus Senderovas’ 

new Cadenzas for Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto Op. 61a in 2009. 

In 2010, Daniel Schnyder’s parkour musical was given its world premiere at the 

Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin. At the 2011 Composer’s Workshop led by 

Daniel Schnyder, the focus on new works will continue. 

During its fourth season in 2011, the Baltic Youth Philharmonic will perform with 

Kristjan Järvi in Kaunas (Lithuania), Kaliningrad (Russia), Szczecin (Poland), 

Copenhagen (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden), Tallinn (Estonia) and at its home 

base, the Usedom Music Festival. It also tours to Italy for the first time, appearing 

in Merano and Milano. 

Together with Kristjan Järvi, ten experienced orchestra musicians and docents 

will rehearse the works with the young musicians, who were chosen during an 

auditions tour in February/March which took the juries and organizers to Berlin, 

Göteborg, Vilnius, Tallinn, Copenhagen and St. Petersburg. 

During its third season in 2010, the Baltic Youth Philharmonic appeared under 

the baton of Kristjan Järvi and with soloist Jan Vogler, cello, in Gdansk (Poland), 

Copenhagen (Denmark), Pärnu (Estonia), Riga (Latvia) and St. Petersburg (Russia). 

The orchestra also performed at the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin 

and under Neeme Järvi for the opening of the 17th Usedom Music Festival in 

Peenemünde. The repertoire for 2010 included Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7 and 

Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps as well as the premiere of its signature program 

“Baltic Voyage”. 

During its first season in 2008, the Baltic Youth Philharmonic gave concerts in 

Riga, Latvia, and at the Usedom Music Festival In 2009, the Baltic Youth Philharmonic 

opened three international music festivals – the Glasperlenspiel Festival 

in Tartu, Estonia, in July, immediately followed by a Baltic tour with concerts in 

Helsinki, Vilnius and Copenhagen; Musikfest Bremen and the Usedom Music 

Festival. It concluded its 2009 season with an appearance at the Baltic Development 

Forum in Stockholm in October. 

Since 2009, the Baltic Youth Philharmonic has been an associate member of the 

European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO). 

www.baltic-youth-philharmonic.org 

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18 

The Baltic Youth Philharmonic 2011 

Violin 

Joanna Antoniak (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Gro Hole Austgulen (Norway, BYP 2011) 

Aiste Birvydaite (Lithuania, BYP 2009–2011) 

Karina Burkhanova (Russia, BYP 2011) 

Natalya Chernikova (Russia, BYP 2011) 

Inese Fedorovska (Latvia, BYP 2009–2011) 

Katarzyna Gluza (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Augusta Jusionyte (Lithuania, BYP 2010–2011) 

Lora Kmieliauskaite (Lithuania, BYP 2011) 

Aleksandra Kolasinska (Poland, BYP 2010–2011) 

Alisa Kopac (Poland, BYP 2010–2011) 

Liga Kuzmane (Latvia, BYP 2009–2011) 

Pauliina Lehtinen (Finland, BYP 2009–2011) 

Kristiana Ozolina (Latvia, BYP 2011) 

Liva Plocina (Latvia, BYP 2010–2011) 

Vladimir Pogoretsky (Russia, BYP 2008–2011) 

Mariya Potapova (Russia, BYP 2011) 

Velga Sarsune (Latvia, BYP 2011) 

Ivan Sichka (Russia, BYP 2011) 

Dalia Simaskaite (Lithuania, BYP 2011) 

Liene Skujina (Latvia, BYP 2011) 

Ieva Staniulyte (Lithuania, BYP 2010–2011) 

Annie Svedlund (Sweden, BYP 2010–2011) 

Agnieszka Swigut (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Kasia Szymczyk (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Mari Targo (Estonia, BYP 2010–2011) 

Renata Ulumbekova (Russia, BYP 2010–2011) 

Liis-Helena Väljamäe (Estonia, BYP 2009–2011) 

Viola 

Malgorzata Blaszyk (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Sophie Bretschneider (Sweden, BYP 2011) 

Mikolaj Debski (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Maria Jadziewicz (Poland, BYP 2010–2011) 

Zane Kalnina (Latvia, BYP 2009–2011) 

Joanna Laczmanska (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Jenny Lüning (Denmark, BYP 2011) 

Julija Makarina (Latvia, BYP 2011) 

Maria Miklaszewicz (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Mairit Mitt (Estonia, BYP 2011) 

Anastasiya Nilova (Russia, BYP 2009–2011) 

Lukas Schwengebecher (Finland, BYP 2011) 

Cello 

Nadezda Bardjuka (Latvia, BYP 2011) 

Stefano Cucuzzella (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Demiyan Fokin (Russia, BYP 2011) 

Anu Keski-Saari (Finland, BYP 2010–2011) 

Evgeny Kogan (Russia, BYP 2010–2011) 

Marta Kordykiewicz (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Madara Norbute (Latvia, BYP 2009–2011) 

Aleksandra Pereverzeva (Russia, BYP 2009–2011) 

Igne Pikalaviciute (Lithuania, BYP 2009–2011) 

Cecylia Stanecka (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Rokas Vaitkevicius (Lithuania, BYP 2009, 2011) 

Giedrius Zukauskas (Lithuania, BYP 2010–2011) 

Double Bass 

Anton Afanasenko (Russia, BYP 2011) 

Michael Carlqvist (Sweden, BYP 2010–2011) 

Jordi Carrasco Hjelm (Sweden, BYP 2011) 

Wojciech Guminski (Poland, BYP 2009–2011) 

Rafal Kierpiec (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Lukasz Klusek (Poland, BYP 2010–2011) 

Victor Kononenko (Russia, BYP 2009–2011) 

Martin Lindahl (Sweden, BYP 2010–2011) 

Flute 

Martin Bosse-Platière (Germany, BYP 2009–2011) 

Heili Rosin (Estonia, BYP 2011) 

Ann Sophie Rønne-Hansen (Denmark, BYP 2011) 

Oboe / English Horn 

Kwan Sheung Fung (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Luise Packmohr (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Ekaterina Skidanova (Russia, BYP 2010–2011) 

Clarinet 

Theresa Fritsche (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Sonja Jünemann (Finland, BYP 2011) 

Alexey Mikhailenko (Russia, BYP 2011) 

Yuriy Nepomnyashchyy (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Bassoon 

Leann Currie (Norway, BYP 2009–2011) 

Eline Solum Gran (Norway, BYP 2010–2011) 

Lauma Tuca (Latvia, BYP 2011) 

Lukas Wiegert (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Sabina Yordanova (Estonia, BYP 2011) 

19

20 

French Horn 

Radu Andrei (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Miks Bankevics (Latvia, BYP 2010–2011) 

Gala Grauel (Germany, BYP 2010–2011) 

Mats A. Johansson (Sweden, BYP 2011) 

Kreete Perandi (Estonia, BYP 2011) 

Ieva Praneviciute (Norway, BYP 2011) 

Trumpet 

Jonas Larsson (Sweden, BYP 2011) 

Neeme Ots (Estonia, BYP 2011) 

Manuel Peitzker (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Trombone 

Daniel Hedin (Sweden, BYP 2008–2011) 

Ingrid Utne (Norway, BYP 2011) 

Sarah Zemp (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Tuba 

Nicolas Indermuehle (Finland, BYP 2011) 

Jose Martínez Antón (Sweden, BYP 2011) 

Percussion 

Maria Finkelmeier (Sweden, BYP 2010–2011) 

Peter Fodor (Finland, BYP 2011) 

Anton Hugosson (Sweden, BYP 2011) 

Wictor Lind (Sweden, BYP 2010–2011) 

Victor Pradillos Belloso (Denmark, BYP 2011) 

Aleksander Wnuk (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Harp 

Ysella Almqvist (Sweden, BYP 2011) 

Julia Becker (Germany, BYP 2010–2011) 

Zuzanna Olbrys (Poland, BYP 2011) 

Piano 

Eun-Jung Son (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Ayako Tanaka (Germany, BYP 2011) 

Assistant Conductors 

Álvaro Gomez Gomez (Estonia, BYP 2011) 

Nikolas Nägele (Germany, BYP 2011) 

James Ham (Russia, BYP 2011) 

Student Composers 

Anna Korsun (Russia, BYP 2011) 

Luiz Gustavo Brinholi Peigo (Germany, BYP 2010–2011) 

Björn Sikström (Sweden, BYP 2011) 

Alfred Jimenez Villafana (Sweden, BYP 2011) 

Music Academies Represented in 

the Baltic Youth Philharmonic in 2011 

Denmark 

The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen 

Estonia 

Estonian Academy of Music and Theater, Tallinn 

Finland 

Sibelius Academy, Helsinki 

Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences 

Tampere University of Applied Sciences 

Germany 

Universität der Künste, Berlin 

Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, Berlin 

Hochschule für Musik, Karlsruhe 

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Felix Mendelssohn 

Bartholdy, Leipzig 

Hochschule für Musik und Theater München 

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock 

Hochschule für Musik Saar, Saarbrücken 

Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Stuttgart 

Hochschule für Musik Trossingen 

Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar 

Latvia 

Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, Riga 

Lithuania 

Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater, Vilnius 

Norway 

Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo 

University of Stavanger 

Poland 

Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Bialystok 

Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music, Gdansk 

Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Katowice 

Music Academy, Krakow 

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music, Poznan 

Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, Warsaw 

Russia 

N. Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory, St. Petersburg 

P.I. Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, Moscow 

Sweden 

Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg 

Swedish National Orchestra Academy, Gothenburg 

Piteå Music Academy of Luleå 

Malmö Academy of Music 

Royal College of Music, Stockholm 

21

22 

2011 Faculty of the Baltic Youth Philharmonic 

Jan Bjøranger (Violin) is currently professor and head of the string department 

at the University of Stavanger, Norway, next to a very active career as a soloist, 

ensemble leader and conductor. He teaches throughout Europe and is currently 

artistic director of the ensemble EnB1 in Stavanger. 

Paul Cortese (Viola) is currently professor of viola and chamber music at the Conservatory 

of the Liceo and the Juan Pedro Carrero School of Music in Barcelona, 

Spain. He is a former principal viola of the Gothenburg Symphony and a soughtafter 

chamber musician. 

Christopher Franzius (Cello) is principal cellist of the NDR Symphony Orchestra 

in Hamburg. He teaches at the Music Academy in Lübeck, Orchesterakademie 

NRW and at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival’s Orchestra Academy. 

Sébastien Dubé (Double bass) is principal bass of the Swedish Chamber 

Orchestra as well as an active jazz and folk musician. Educated in Canada and 

the USA, he enjoyed a freelance career there before moving to Scandinavia, 

where he also recently began to teach. 

Alison Mitchell (Flute/Woodwinds) is principal flutist with the Scottish Chamber 

Orchestra as well as guest principal flutist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. 

She teaches at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. 

Martin Kuuskmann (Woodwinds) is principal bassoon of the Absolute Ensemble 

and has appeared all over the world as a soloist. Career highlights include solo 

performances with the New York Philharmonic and the Estonian National Symphony 

Orchestra, as well as the premieres of numerous works written for him. 

He teaches at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. 

Arkady Shilkloper (French horn) is a member of the Moscow Art Trio and a former 

member of the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra and the Moscow State Philharmonic. 

Shilkloper is in demand as a soloist and a teacher for brass instruments 

instrument workshops and symposia the world over. 

Charlie Porter (Brass) is a multi-genre trumpeter and composer who has performed 

widely with classical orchestras, on Broadway, and also leads his own jazz 

ensemble, the Charlie Porter Quartet. He is principal trumpet of the Absolute 

Ensemble. 

Damien Bassman (Percussion) is principal percussionist of the Absolute Ensemble 

and frequently appears on and off Broadway. Educated at the Cleveland 

Institute of Music, the Juilliard School and Carnegie Mellon University, he has 

embraced the full range of percussion styles and genres. He teaches at Marymount 

Manhattan College in New York. 

Daniel Schnyder (Ensemble coach & Composers‘ Workshop), composer, arranger, 

and saxophone performer in a wide variety of genres. The Baltic Youth Philharmonic 

commissioned the work parkour musical from him for its 2010 season, 

which he describes as a “compilation of 20th century music” and an “urban 

obstacle race for orchestra: everybody has to perform unusual and very virtuosic 

material”. Born in Switzerland and living in New York City today, Schnyder is in 

demand as a composer (commissions from the Berlin Philharmonic, Musikfest 

Bremen, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, etc.) and 

performer. 

23

24 

The Usedom Music Festival 

The sound of the Baltic Sea has been heard for the past 17 years on the Island 

of Usedom, located on the border between Germany and Poland. Every year in 

the late summer, the Usedom Music Festival devotes itself to the cultural region 

around the Baltic Sea, true to its motto A Podium of the Baltic Sea. Over the 

years, it has become “an important point in the German music calendar,” according 

to the Financial Times. 

During the course of its journey around the Baltic Sea, it has presented the musical 

life of Russia, Poland, the Baltic States, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark 

and the former state of Prussia in recent years. Soloists and conductors such as 

Mstislav Rostropovich, Gidon Kremer, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Krzysztof Penderecki, 

Neeme Järvi, Olli Mustonen, Nina Stemme, Bo Skovhus as well as Jan Garbarek 

and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio have enthralled their audiences. 

The Peenemünde Concerts, frequently featuring the NDR Symphony Orchestra 

and held at the former missile testing site of the Nazi regime, are among the 

highlights of the more than 40 events presented by the Festival each year 

and send a signal of peace and international understanding from a place with 

a dark history. The Peenemünde concerts have been attended by such prominent 

guests as HRH Queen Silvia of Sweden, HRH Prince Henrik of Denmark, 

Mikhail Gorbachev and the Presidents of Germany Johannes Rau and Horst 

Köhler. 

From September 24 to October 15, 2011, the musical and cultural life of Lithuania 

will be the focus of this year‘s Festival, which commemorates the 100th 

anniversary of the death of Mikolajus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, ˇ Lithuania’s 

national composer and most famous artist. Apart from the Baltic Youth Philharmonic, 

which returns once again to its “home base” on the Island of Usedom, 

the Festival looks forward to welcoming artists in residence Violeta Urmana 

(soprano) and David Geringas (cello / conductor), as well as the St. Christopher 

Chamber Orchestra, Brevis Consort, ArtVio Quartet and many other artists from 

Lithuania – a unique combination: Welcome Lithuania! 

www.usedomer-musikfestival.de 

BYP-Concert at Peenemünde

26 

Nord Stream AG 

The Nord Stream Gas Pipeline enters the Baltic Sea at Portovaya Bay in Russia, 

passing more than 1,200 kilometres through the Baltic Sea before reaching landfall 

in Lubmin in Germany. In the last quarter of 2011, gas transport to Europe 

will begin. Full capacity of about 55 billion cubic metres a year will be reached 

when the second pipeline goes on stream in 2012. This is enough gas to supply 

more than 26 million European households. 

Nord Stream AG is an international joint venture established for the planning, 

construction and subsequent operation of two offshore gas pipelines through 

the Baltic Sea. Russian OAO Gazprom holds a 51 percent stake in the joint venture. 

The German companies BASF SE/ Wintershall Holding GmbH and E.ON 

Ruhrgas AG hold 15.5 percent each, and the Dutch gas infrastructure company 

N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie and the French energy company GDF Suez S.A. each 

hold a 9 percent stake. 

It might not be typical for an infrastructure project such as the Nord Stream 

Pipeline to support an orchestra. But Nord Stream believes its responsibilities 

also include support for the community, for the environment, and for culture. 

This is why Nord Stream has committed to a variety of transboundary projects 

in the Baltic Sea region. 

And herein lies the bond between Nord Stream and the BYP: Nord Stream connects 

the Baltic Sea through a pipeline; the orchestra unites young students from 

the Baltic Sea states and is able to unify the region with its music. 

Music is close to our hearts, and therefore Nord Stream proudly contributes to 

the vision of a united Baltic Sea region as a co-founder and sponsor of the Baltic 

Youth Philharmonic. 

www.nord-stream.com 

Sponsors 2011 

Co-Initiator | Main Sponsor 

Sponsor of the Tour 2011 

Project Sponsor 

Support for the 2011 Composers‘ Workshop 

In-Kind Sponsorship 

Acknowledgments 

The Baltic Youth Philharmonic would like to thank all the music academies 

involved in this project for their support and help, especially the ones in Tallinn, 

Vilnius, St. Petersburg and Copenhagen as well as the Gothenburg Opera for 

their help in organizing and hosting the 2011 auditions. 

BYP also thanks the Danish Radio in Copenhagen for the use of its hall and 

recording facilities. 

We are grateful to the music libraries of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra – 

special thanks to Kristian Karlstedt – the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra 

and the Tivoli Orchestra. 

Special thanks to Igor Alexandrovich Odintsov and Elena Skidanova in Kaliningrad 

for their organizational help. 

27

Copyright: 

Usedom Music Festival 2011 

Artistic & Executive Director 

Thomas Hummel 

Organizer 

Usedom Music Festival | Förderverein Usedomer Musikfreunde e.V. | 

Rolf Seelige-Steinhoff, President | Rainer Schweitzer, Vice President | 

Detlef Wagner, Treasurer | Petra Bensemann, Secretary 

Administration / Staff 

Thomas Hummel, Executive Director | Alexa Nieschlag, Orchestra Manager | 

Ellen Wölk, Operations Manager | Franziska Franke, Press Officer | Freia Kollar, 

Assistant Press Officer | Kerstin A. Dorscht, Marketing Manager | Markus Köcher, 

Assistant Marketing Manager | Matthias Ferkau, Assistant to the Executive Director 

| Jan Hanisch, Travel Logistics | Ernst-Ulrich Kammradt/Burkhard Hoffmann, 

Stage Managers | Nina Ivanchenko/Zane Opincãne/Anja Richter, Coordinators 

Contact 

Dünenstr. 45, 17419 Seebad Ahlbeck, Germany 

Phone +49 (38378) 346 47 

Fax +49 (38378) 346 48 

Email byp@baltic-youth-philharmonic.org 

Web www.baltic-youth-philharmonic.org 

Photos 

All photographs by Peter Adamik 

except S. 12 Lisa-Marie Mazzucco, p. 15 Peter Rigaud, p.25 Geert Maciejewski, 

p. 26 Nord Stream AG 

Graphic Design 

Büro Brüggmann/Sophia Paeslack 

Co-Initiator | Main Sponsor Initiator Sponsor of the Tour 2011

BYP Tour Brochure 2011 - Baltic Youth Philharmonic

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