The Young Sound Forum of Central Europe (Junges Klangforum Mitte Europa) is a Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an youth orchestra

Youth orchestra

Youth orchestra may refer to:-Australia:*Adelaide Youth Orchestra*Melbourne String Ensemble*Queensland Youth Orchestras*SBS Radio and Television Youth Orchestra*Sydney Youth Orchestra...

 consisting of young German, Polish and Czech

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

 musicians.

Goals

The aim of the Young Sound Forum of Central Europe is the rejuvenation of the once so precious and rich cultural landscape of Central Europe by promoting and reclaiming its wrongfully lost musical treasures.In addition to the classic concert repertoire, the Young Sound Forum of Central Europe has equally dedicated itself to fostering contemporary music through commissioned compositions as well as performing rarely played pieces by composers ostracized and persecuted by the National Socialist regime from 1933-1945.

History

The Young Sound Forum of Central Europe was founded in 2002 by the German conductor Christoph Altstaedt. The orchestra initially consisted of former members of the Bundesjugendorchester (the German National Youth Orchestra). Following a co-operative project with Czech musicians in the former concentration camp of Terezin

Theresienstadt concentration camp

Theresienstadt concentration camp was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín , located in what is now the Czech Republic.-History:The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790 by the orders...

 (Theresienstadt) in 2003, the idea of a tri-national orchestra including Polish musicians was born in 2004. The patrons of the orchestra are Richard von Weizsäcker

Richard von Weizsäcker

Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker , known as Richard von Weizsäcker, is a German politician . He served as Governing Mayor of West Berlin from 1981 to 1984, and as President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1984 to 1994...

, Václav Havel

Václav Havel

Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...

 and Lech Wałęsa

Lech Wałęsa

Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...

.

In its first five years of existence the Young Sound Forum of Central Europe has been equally recognised for its musical excellence and unique repertoire as well as for its contributions to understanding and reconciliation in Europe between Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. The Young Sound Forum of Central Europe received the Praemium Imperiale

Praemium Imperiale

The Praemium Imperiale is an arts prize awarded since 1989 by the imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and theatre/film...

 "Grant For Young Artists" 2004, the Marion Doenhoff Award 2005 and the European Youth Orchestra Prize 2006.

The Musical Director of the Young Sound Forum of Central Europe is its founding conductor Christoph Altstaedt, a Tanglewood Music Festival

Tanglewood Music Festival

The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts....

 conducting fellow in 2008.Guest conductors of the orchestra have included Sebastian Weigle, Muhai Tang

Muhai Tang

Muhai Tang is a Chinese conductor. He is the youngest son of celebrated Chinese film director Tang Xiaodan and brother of painter and poet Tang Muli....

 and Krzysztof Penderecki

Krzysztof Penderecki

Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...

. The Young Sound Forum of Central Europe has 2-3 European concert tours annually and toured Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

in 2005.

External links

• Official Homepage of the Young Sound Forum of Central Europe