Tour Programme 'Baltic Sea Landscapes

Baltic Sea Philharmonic

2016Baltic Sea Landscapes Tour

WelcomeWe are delighted to welcome you to our‘Baltic Sea Landscapes’ tour programme.With this April tour we launch our excitingnew offshoot, Baltic Sea Philharmonic, and as our choice of repertoire reflects our deep love and care for the special natural environment through which we will be touring, as well as marking Prokofiev’s 125th anniversary, we have much to celebrate. We are happy to be able to do so together with you.

Discover how our pioneering and practical approach to training musicians is reaping rewards; meet our coachesand players

The birth and evolution ofBaltic Sea Music Education Foundation; programme credits

Find out about ourinnovative teachingprogramme

Our educationalambitions continueto develop


Baltic Sea Music Education Foundation

Baltic Sea MusicAcademy

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Find out about Baltic SeaPhilharmonic and our tour dates; welcome from Kristjan Järvi; pianist Alexander Toradze celebrates Prokofiev; learn about our tour repertoire

The future of our training orchestra, Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic (BYP); success stories from BYP

Introducing ournew orchestra

How our originalorchestra is evolving

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Baltic Sea Youth

Philharmonic


Baltic Sea MusicAcademy

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Baltic SeaPhilharmonic

Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic performing at the Berlin Philharmonie, January 2014. Der Tagesspiegel wrote of the concert, ‘The music boils and steams like lava, repeatedly heralding the big eruption, until everything ends in a huge burst of sound. The public loved it’

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Baltic SeaPhilharmonic

Repertoire for Baltic Sea Philharmonic’sfirst ‘Baltic Sea Landscapes’ tour reflects this passion for the environment and that of the composers, who are all from the region. We take the listener on a journey of the imagination across seas and landscapes, meeting nature and wildlife, with works such as Jean Sibelius’s Karelia Suite, Arvo Pärt’s Swansong, Stravinsky’s Firebird, and Gediminas Gelgotas’s Mountains. Waters. (Freedom). The orchestra also performs works by Prokofiev, whose 125th anniversary it will celebrate on 23 Aprilwith a concert in Moscow.

As part of our advocacy for the environment, we partner with organisations that safeguard the cultural heritage and focus on environmental protection. For example, our Helsinki concert is presented by the John Nurminen Foundation to raise funds for their ‘Clean Baltic Sea’ projects.

We introduce our new orchestra and lookforward to some of its 2016 highlights

This tour we launch Baltic Sea Philharmonic, our exciting new initiative that marks the expansion of our educational aspirations for the region. Baltic Sea Philharmonic will become the main public-facing part of the Baltic Sea Music Education Foundation, coming together several times a year to tour specific projects across Europe and further. It will allow us to continue to develop Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic (BYP) and our Baltic Sea Music Academy as progressive learning centres for the region.

Baltic Sea Philharmonic includes current and former BYP players from the ten countries of the Baltic Sea region– Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden. Like BYP, it is a young orchestra, but there is no age cap, so people of all ages can apply. The two orchestras share the foundation’s ambitions, and are a platform for culture, society and the environment.


Say hello to BalticSea Philharmonic

This tour will be followed in September2016 with ‘Baltic Sea Discovery’, in whichrepertoire takes the theme of the swan,with works by Pärt (Swansong) and Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake). The celebrated Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica will join the orchestra, with its players embedded in Baltic Sea Philharmonic, and Kremer performing Weinberg’s Violin Concerto.

2016 promises another exciting journeyfor Baltic Sea Music Education Foundation and we are pleased to have you on board with us!

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‘Repertoire for Baltic Sea Philharmonic’s first “Baltic Sea Landscapes” tourreflects our passionfor the environment and that of thecomposers included’

Say hello to BalticSea Philharmonic

Baltic Sea Philharmonic Kristjan Järvi, conductor Alexander Toradze, piano

Jean Sibelius: Karelia Suite, Op. 11 (Klaipeda, Liepāja, Tallinn, Helsinki)Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major Classical,Op. 25 (Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Moscow)Sergei Prokofiev:Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26(except for Tallinn)***Arvo Pärt: Swansong (Littlemore Tractus) for orchestraGediminas Gelgotas: Mountains. Waters. (Freedom)Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird (1945)

15 April 2016, 6.00 pm, Klaipeda (Concert Hall),Lithuania

16 April 2016, 7.00 pm, Liepāja (Great Amber Concert Hall),Latvia

18 April 2016, 7.00 pm, Tallinn (Estonia Concert Hall),Estonia

19 April 2016, 7.00 pm, Helsinki (Music Centre),Finland

21 April 2016, 6.30 pm, St. Petersburg (Mariinsky Concert Hall), Russia

23 April 2016, 7.00 pm, Moscow (Tchaikovsky Concert Hall),Russia


‘Baltic SeaLandscapes’Tour, April 2016

Baltic Sea PhilharmonicKristjan Järvi, conductorGidon Kremer, violin

Arvo Pärt: Swansong (Littlemore Tractus) for orchestraMieczysław Weinberg:Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 67*** P.I. Tchaikovsky:Swan Lake Ballet Music(Arr. by Kristjan Järvi)

Baltic Sea PhilharmonicKristjan Järvi, conductor

Special programme for employees ofOMV Aktiengesellschaft

18 September 2016, 7.00 pm,Gdansk (European Solidarity Centre), Poland

20 September 2016, 5.00 pm,Copenhagen (DR Concert Hall),Denmark

24 September 2016, 8.00 pm,Peenemünde/Usedom (Kraftwerk),Germany

8 December 2016, 11.00 am,Vienna (Konzerthaus),Austria

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‘Baltic Sea Discovery’ Tour, September 2016

Kristjan Järvi: Biography

Born in Estonia, Kristjan Järvi emigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in New York City. He has ‘earned a reputation as one of the canniest, and most innovative, programmers on the classical scene.’ (Reuters) Curating and conducting his original, genre-fusing projects and festivals with an individual approach and style, his concerts have been proclaimed a ‘life-enhancing experience.’ (Herald Scotland). Kristjan realises his

Welcome fromKristjan JärviOur Founding Conductor and Music Directorexplains the philosophy behind ‘Baltic Sea Landscapes’

‘This tour brings together all ourcommitments: to culture, music andeducation, and especially to theenvironment. That’s why we’re calling it the ‘Baltic Sea Landscapes’ tour. We’ll be touring on the actual Baltic Sea, stopping at ports of Klaipeda (Lithuania), Liepāja (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia), Helsinki (Finland) and St. Petersburg (Russia). We arebringing the environment into focus withpieces that come from the area and are written by composers who are inspired by nature. It’s music that makes you feel the Northern Lights, the ice, the cold wind, the forests, the incredible feeling when you jump into the lakes. The whole mentality and way of being of the region is formed by nature, which is why we have thesegreat composers.

“Environment” is a very important word for us, in two different senses. As humans we create the environment between each other. It is also our neighbourhood. The sea gives us life, the trees give us air, and we all have to take care of it. We have to be connected to the greater environment in our daily lives, and then we realise that there are no differences between peoples or nationalities. The whole planet is ours. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what your story is: we must take care of each other, and of the Earth.’

‘It’s music that makes you feel the northern lights, the ice, the cold wind, the forests, the incredible feeling when you jump into the lakes’


pioneering ideas with his four ensembles: as Music Director of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, as creator of his New York-based classical-hip-hop-jazz band Absolute Ensemble, and as Founding Conductor and Music Director of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic. As a recording artist his range from Hollywood soundtracks such as ‘Cloud Atlas’ and ‘Hunger Games’ to award-winning albums on Sony and Chandos, to his eponymous series on renowned French label Naïve Classique: the ‘Kristjan Järvi Sound Project’. Launched in 2014, the series features projects across all of his ensembles and is characterised by his unmistakable approach in taking a

fresh look at the old, with concepts and presentation that transcend the borders of classical music. The latest release entitled ‘Passacaglia’ is a collaboration with Arvo Pärt celebrating the composers 80th birthday. Kristjan’s latest release on Sony Classical is part of a series of Tchaikovsky theatre works that began with Snow Maiden, and will continue with Sleeping Beautyand Nutcracker. Kristjan works with some of today’s brightest creative minds, from film directors Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis, to composers and artists Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich, Tan Dun, Giya Kancheli, Hauschka, Dhafer Youssef, Anoushka Shankar, Max Richter and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

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Welcome fromKristjan Järvi

Prokofiev at 125

He says: ‘One of the important things that Zak communicated to me was how unhappy Prokofiev was that the lyrical, cantilena side of his music was often missed by players, critics and audiences. That becameextremely important for me because it gave me liberty to treat his slow, lyrical music with more tension.’

Alexander describes the Third Piano Concerto: ‘It is like champagne. It has a variety of geographical and ethnicidentities – Russian, Jewish and Japanese. It is extremely cosmopolitan, a kaleido-scope of themes from many different parts and even many different times in his life.’

Personal connections go further. The Toradze and Järvi families have been close ever since Alexander Toradze performed at the USSR National Piano Competition in 1969 in Tallinn, under the baton of Neeme Järvi, Kristjan’s father. David Toradze even composed his Second Symphony for Neeme. Alexander Toradze says, ‘It has been a very deep, lifelong and important friendship, first for my father and mother and Kristjan’s parents, and then for me and Paavo and Kristjan.’

This year marks the 125th anniversary of Prokofiev’s birth and we’re excited to be able to celebrate it in the company of one of the world’s leading Prokofiev champions, Alexander Toradze. He will be performing the Third Piano Concerto, his recording of which was chosen as ‘best recording ever’ by International Piano Quarterly.

Alexander brings special insights to Prokofiev’s works, having several personal connections with the composer. His father, the composer David Toradze, studied with Reinhold Glière, who was Prokofiev’s composition teacher, and he used to tell his young son: ‘Prokofiev never wrote one note that wasn’t genius.’ The young Alexander became inspired by the composer’s piano works when a famous pianist came to his home town, he remembers: ‘My first impressions of Prokofiev’s music came from Sviatoslav Richter. At a very young age I heard him perform whole recitals of his music in Tbilisi, and that stayed with me as the quintessential concert experience. He performed the “war” sonatas, so I was exposed to Sonata No. 7, and I played it at the age of 14, with vehement protest from my teachers, but not my father.’

He gathered an important insight from his teacher, Yakov Zak, who was a close friend of Prokofiev and had performed his concertos with the composer in the hall.

We celebrate the anniversary of the great Russiancomposer in the company of one of the great Prokofievproponents, Alexander Toradze


He is looking forward to working with the Baltic Sea Philharmonic, and describes the excitement of working with youngorchestras: ‘The enthusiasm, willingness and attention you get from these young players puts you back to your own young years. It reminds you how exciting every note is, and should be, and any remarkfrom your teacher makes it even more special. You put these things on the back burner because you don’t have time to recall them all, but when you’re with a youth orchestra it’s right there in front of you. Everything is doubled: double challenge, double pleasure, double inspiration.It’s no regular concert: it’s a concert with serious consequences.’

Alexander Toradze: Biography

Alexander Toradze is a concert pianist, best known for his classical Russian repertoire, with a career spanning more than three decades, performing with the world’s finest orchestras. He is a professor of piano at Indiana University South Bend.

Born in Georgia, then part of the former Soviet Union, Alexander entered Tbilisi’s central music school at six and first played with orchestra at nine. He continued his studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow at nineteen under Yakov Zak, Boris Zemliansky, and Lev Naumov. In 1977, he finished second in the Fifth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatoire in 1978. In 1983, while on tour with the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra of Moscow, he requested asylum at the American Embassy in Madrid and has since made his home in the United States. In 1991, Alexander became the Martinendowed professor of piano at Indiana University South Bend.

‘It’s no regular concert: it’s a concert withserious consequences’

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Baltic SeaLandscapes

The natural beauty of the Baltic Seacountries serves as inspiration for the first programme of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic. With ‘Baltic Sea Landscapes’, Kristjan Järvi and the orchestra take the listener on a musical journey to countries that have been connected to each other since ancient times through their harbour cities, introducing us to their wonderful composers.

Jean Sibelius is probably the most famous Finnish composer. He received piano and violin lessons at an early age, studied at the conservatory in Helsinki and later moved to Berlin and Vienna. Sibelius campaigned for the national Finnish movement, which called for the foundation of an independent state. His Karelia Suite op. 11 (1893) is a declara-tion of faith in his homeland and addresses the theme of Karelia, which was claimed by Sweden, Russia and the Finnish people. Today the different parts of the population live in peace in this lake- and forest-covered region of North-Eastern Europe. It is not far to the architecturally beautiful St. Petersburg. In 1919, Sergei Prokofiev’s First Symphony op. 25 was premiered there. The compact piece became known as the ‘Classical Symphony’. In it, the composer honours his great example Joseph Haydn by using his tonal language. The music represented a musical turning point, since the work declared its opposition to the

enormous Romantic symphony. Prokofiev’s homeland was also experiencing upheaval at the time, as it transformed from a Tsarist Empire into the Soviet Republic.

After the October Revolution in 1917, many Russian artists left their home, since cultural life still had to establish a new order there. Opportunities arose in Europe and the USA. Prokofiev also moved there and established his reputation as a pianist and composer on the basis of his Piano Concerto No. 3op. 26. It was premiered in Chicago in 1921. Prokofiev practised no other piece as intensively on the piano as this one. This concerto, he once explained, ‘is known to every child, so every passage has to be right.’ High-energy moments contrast with lyrical elements. The Petersburg composer and musicologist Boris Assafiev declared that this work ‘radiates with the Russian understanding of the significance and value of art.’ Prokofiev never described himself as an émigré, remaining a citizen of his country and later returning to the Soviet Union. On 23 April this year, Baltic Sea Philharmonic together with Kristjan Järvi and Alexander Toradze will honour his 125th birthday with a concert in Moscow.

By contrast, the Estonian composerArvo Pärt is a musical individualist, even during his training at the conservatory in


Explore the repertoire for our tour programme and find out more about the composers and their times

Tallinn. He initially composed avant-garde pieces, which were often received with incomprehension. His study of medieval music and religion later led to a peaceful, tonal language. In 1980, Pärt emigrated to Vienna and Berlin and quickly became acult figure of New Music in the West. He only returned to his homeland in 2008.The orchestral piece Swansong, which was premiered by the Vienna Philharmonic in 2014, is based on Pärt’s early composition ‘Littlemore Tractus’. In it, he set the text by Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801–1890) to music. The theologian, poet andthinker was an influential figure in England. Swansong is therefore a hymnic,pensive piece.

The Lithuanian Gediminas Gelgotas has enjoyed a special partnership with the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic for many years. Most recently, the orchestra perfor-med Mountains. Waters. (Freedom). The premiere was on 12 September 2015 in the Tonhalle, Zurich. Now the Baltic Sea Philharmonic is performing the impressive piece for the first time, with its dark colour tones and voluminous, natural composition. Gelgotas was inspired by pop music. In his piece, he aims to ‘explore the enormous

latitudes around us and inside us. It was my idea and desire to create a sound and a musical structure in which all processes run as economically as possible and in which its inner elements constantly transform into new figures.’

Igor Stravinsky composed the Firebird ballet at the young age of 27. The impresario Sergei Diaghilev commissioned the piece for his innovative dance company Ballets Russes (with dancers from St. Petersburg and Moscow), thereby showing great trust in the young composer. And rightly so, since in 1910, the premiered ballet, based on two old Russian fairy tales, was a huge success. The public was electrified by the orchestral magnificence of the piece. The Russian ballerina Tamara Karsavina, the Russian dancer and choreographer Michail Fokin, and the stage set presenting the enchanted garden in which the golden apples grow, were especially impressive.

The music was also popular in concert halls in the form of three later orchestral suites, offering ‘best of’ versions in different lengths and orchestral constellations. Kristjan Järvi has chosen the last of these, from 1945. The contrast between the dazzling ‘Infernal Dance’ of the evil wizard Kashchei and the dreamy ‘Lullaby’ is enormous. Naturally, the story recounts how the young Prince Ivan wins over his beloved princess. He is aided by a mysterious firebird. It is truly magical music that unfolds an almost archaic power in the enormous crescendo of the Finale. ‘Look at him: He is a man on the eve of his fame,’ Diaghilev said of Stravinsky during ballet rehearsals. His prophecy was fulfilled.

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Baltic SeaYouth Philharmonic

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Baltic SeaYouth Philharmonic

Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic receiving the European Culture Prize in Dresden’s Frauenkirche in October 2015, as ’an example to others to inspire worldwide audiences and foster cultural understanding in Europe and beyond’

Journey into the futureWe look back at how far Baltic Sea YouthPhilharmonic has come since it began, and discovermore about its ambitious plans

The new Baltic Sea Philharmonic comes out of the success of Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic (BYP), which continues to develop its educational mission. In the short space of time since its first concert in 2008, BYP has become a major force for good on the international musical map. The orchestra first performed at the summit of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in Riga under Kristjan Järvi, initiated by the Usedom Music Festival and gas pipeline operator Nord Stream AG, a partner-ship brought about by Thomas Hummel, Executive Director of the Festival.At that point, its mission was simple– to bring together young people from different countries of the Baltic Sea region in musical harmony. Kristjan says: ‘Initially as an organisation we tried to highlight the cooperation between the countries ofthe Baltic Sea. We wanted to reflect this ina multinational orchestra made up ofyoung people. The main goal was to make music together.’

The orchestra was an instant success among musicians and audiences, as well as sponsors, who understood the value of the project, and conservatoires who could see the benefits to their students. As its reputation spread, it was invited toperform across Europe, embarking onregular tours and playing at the most prestigious concert halls and festivals, such as White Nights Music Festival in St. Petersburg, Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, Bonn Beethovenfest, Rheingau Music Festival and Usedom Music Festival, its original birthplace. Concert tours took it to Italy several times, and it performed in Berlin’s prestigious Philharmonie and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Politicians, too, understood the importance of its mission, and after being invited to perform at the Summit of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in Stralsund in 2012, at the invitation of Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor praised the orchestra as‘a compelling example of using music as a powerful medium for cooperation and integration across borders.’

Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic

In 2015, these achievements werehonoured with the European Culture Prize by the European Culture Foundation ‘Pro Europe’. The 2015 jury awarded BYP in acknowledgement of the enormous impact the orchestra has made on the culture of the region. In particular, the jury cited the orchestra’s ‘passionate and thrillingperformances as an example to othersto inspire worldwide audiences and fostercultural understanding in Europeand beyond’.

The foundation has a rich network ofmusical contacts and coaches, and its Artistic Council includes Valery Gergiev, Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons andEsa-Pekka Salonen. The late Kurt Masur was also a keen supporter, serving as a member of the Artistic Council, andconducted BYP twice.

BYP has come of age, not only in name, but also in its reputation and the scale of its ambitions. As Baltic Sea Philharmonic takes over the public touring role of theorganisation, BYP itself continues as an important training ground for the nextgeneration of the region’s musicians, and the source of Baltic Sea Philharmonic’s ranks, furthering the ambitions of the Baltic Sea Music Education Foundation, as wellas benefitting society in general.

Thomas Hummel looks back on thesuccess of the last nine years:‘It has been gratifying to see young players from different cultures collaborate in the service of musical excellence, forming lifelong friendships, and discovering new audiences for classical music around Europe. Music shows us a perfect model of cooperation and creativity, of how society can function constructively and fairly, and BYP offers an excellent example of this model in action. We look forward todeveloping our activities in thecoming years, with the help of ourgenerous sponsors.’

‘The orchestra was an instant success among musicians and audiences, as well as sponsors, who understood the value of the project, and conservatoires who could see the benefits to their students’

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‘I learnt so muchand I use thatknowledge in my life’

Support systemBaltic Sea Youth Philharmonic (BYP) is more than just greatmusical experiences – it offers inspiration and practical support for its players in making a successful professional life in music

An important part of our mission is to support young musicians from the Baltic Sea region in making the transition between studying their instruments and becoming professional. This is partly in giving them the opportunity to experience the joy and inspiration of working in a high-quality orchestra, but also in offering thempractical skills for a life in music, and anin-depth knowledge of playing and living in an orchestra.

Percussionist Sebastiaan Molenaar is a perfect example of how BYP helps its musicians. He has played in theorchestra since 2013, and has recently taken the step up to coaching the percussion section himself, in the recent Academy LAB session. He is currently studying for a Masters in Performance at Amsterdam Conservatorium, but has already performed in the Oslo Philharmonic, Kammerorchester Basel, the Dutch National Ballet Orchestra and Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra. He explains how BYP has helped him professionally: ‘I have a sense of freedom when I play in BYP. Kristjan and thecoaches are not so interested in what wecall “perfect playing”. There’s a lot of freedom, which makes it much more interesting, and makes you more relaxed when you perform. In my case, I play better and can be myself more. This helps me in other situations, too: in other orchestras and at auditions. I can show more of myself without being too stressed.’

Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic

‘We all come from different backgrounds, but we’re all doing the same things’ Cellist Igne Pikalaviciute has also

been inspired by BYP. She is a member since 2009 and as well as pursuing orchestral playing now, she is in theAdora Quartet, which includes two players she met in BYP, and which has already won awards. She says of her time in BYP:‘I learnt so much and I use that knowledge in my life. It’s given me a new attitude, new energy, new feelings about music.’

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Baltic SeaMusic Academy

Baltic Sea YouthPhilharmonic rehearses for a concert tour in Leipzig in 2014. Working with the orchestra offers musicians vital experience ofprofessional life

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Baltic SeaMusic Academy

In the LABOur innovative annual workshopsoffer vital experience for young musicians

Baltic Sea Music Academy is a unique concept offering talented young players the chance to work intensively in a professional orchestral context. For a whole week, they have the opportunity to work with Kristjan Järvi and an esteemed group of coaches, living, breathing, eating and sleeping music. The experience opens up a world of possibilities for them: musically, in training and inspiring them; professionally, in giving them insight into life as a musician; and making friends and colleagues from across the entire Baltic Sea region who will lasta lifetime.

The Academy LAB’s approach isextensive, offering orchestra rehearsals, sectional coaching and chamber music projects, as well as workshops on specific subjects such as rhythm. Repertoire is wide-ranging, including great masterpieces of the repertoire as well as modern and specially-commissioned pieces and works from outside the classical music genre.

This is part of the LAB’s progressive outlook, as Kristjan explains: ‘Our aim is to develop a different type of approach to playing and understanding music, a holistic approach. This includes practical aspects of making music – using one’s bodyproperly, enjoying the physicality of playing, the feeling of fun and making friends, of being part of one rhythmic entity. But it also includes the entrepreneurial sides: getting things done effectively, being organised, commissioning music, helping conductors to work better and quicker. We serveall these different components in helping musicians achieve their musical potential.’

In this spirit, since 2010 Composition and Conducting Workshops have run alongside the main Academy LAB session. Chosen young conductors work under Kristjan, and special guests, who have included Kurt Masur, to prepare programmes and practise with BYP, and for the Composition Workshop, young composers work with coach Daniel Schnyder, with BYP playing pieces that the composers have writtenthat same week, recording them withprofessional production staff.

Baltic Sea Music Academy

‘Students can access the entire musicalprocess of creatingmusic, improvising,playing new music and traditional music, and knowing how to play in an orchestra’

Daniel Schnyder describes what makes the Academy so special: ‘There are many composition workshops, violin workshops and youth orchestras around the world. But there doesn’t exist another that is the whole package, where students can access the entire musical process of creating music, improvising, playing new music and traditional music, and knowing how to play in an orchestra. We always try to present something new and exciting to theyoung people, to give them ideas. We fuse all these aspects of music making together here, which is unique.’

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Who’s WhoWe’re delighted to welcome an internationallyrenowned group of musicians to our 2016 Academyfrom 9 to 14 April in Liepāja, Latvia, some ofwhom are regular faces with BYP, and some, new additions

Ole Edvard Antonsen, brass

Ole Edvard is one of the world’s leading trumpet soloists and one of Norway’s biggest international stars. He is equallyat home working with major symphonyorchestras – such as the Berlin Philharmonic or London Symphony Orchestra – as he is collaborating withpop, rock and jazz musicians, such asJohn Miles. He has played on all of themain music stages in over 40 countries around the world, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Tokyo’s Suntory Hall,and also works as a conductor.

Jan Bjøranger, violin

Jan is a professor and head of the string department at the University of Stavanger, Norway, alongside a very active career as a soloist, ensemble leader and conductor. He teaches throughout Europe and is also Artistic Director of the ensemble 1B1 in Stavanger, which received a Norwegian Grammy in 2015. Jan has been a coach for the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic since the beginning in 2008.

Paul Cortese, viola

Paul is professor of viola and chamber music at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona, Spain. He is former principal viola of the Gothenburg Symphony in Sweden and a frequent guest principalviola in many orchestras, as well as a sought-after chamber musician. He has recorded numerous discs for solo viola.Since 2008 Paul has been a memberof the BYP coaches team.

Charles DeRamus, double bass

Charles is a member of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and teaches atthe University of Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama in Sweden. Originally from the United States, he has performed,recorded, and toured with major orchestras and festivals around the world. In addition to giving masterclasses in Sweden, Norway, England, Japan and the US, Charles teaches regularly at numerous chamber music and orchestral festivals throughout the world.


Justas Kulikauskas, cello

Justas is a solo cellist of the New Ideas Chamber Orchestra NICO. He started performing solos with all major orchestras in Lithuania aged ten, and he is a winner of international cello competitions. He is also a songwriter, producer and artist of Hip-Hop/RnB. At the 2012 Boss Championship he was selected as one of eight best loopers in the world. He released his first cello solo album in 2015.

Daniel Schnyder, composition

Daniel is a composer, arranger and saxophonist in a wide variety of genres, and works as a composer-in-residence, consultant and soloist with many orchest-ras and festivals. Daniel is in demand as a composer, with commissions from the Berlin Philharmonic, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Opera Philadelphia, Dresden Philharmonie, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony Orchestra and many others.He composed ‘parkour musical’ for BYP, which was premiered in Berlin in 2010.

Sebastiaan Molenaar, percussion

Sebastiaan is currently studying for his Master’s in classical percussion at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. Recent engagements have included with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Gstaad Festival Orchestra and theNorwegian Radio Orchestra.

Andrey Godik, woodwinds

Oboist Andrey has performed as a soloist and chamber musician, and in orchestras including Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Munich Radio Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Munich Philharmonic.In 2014 he was awarded the Special Prize for Interpretation of Schumann at the Gasteig Cultural Music Competition and the Special Prize ‘Honorable Mention’ at the 66th Prague International Music Competition. He was principal oboe at the Komische Oper Berlin and is now principal oboe at the Staatstheater Braunschweig and Gstaad Festival Orchestra.

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Our Musicians 2016ViolinAnna Arkhipova (Russia)Karol Bartoszewicz (Poland)Vida Bobin (Poland)Toomas Ellervee (Estonia)Ilze Gagaine (Latvia)Leila Hairova (Latvia)Vincent Hamann (Germany)Dita Immermane (Latvia)Kseniia Ivakina (Russia)Seeun Kang (Germany)Kaido Kopli (Estonia)Marzena Malinowska (Poland)Erika Melnicuka (Latvia)Liisi Metsvahi (Estonia)Jan Mleczko (Poland)Laura Muskare (Latvia)Evgenia Pavlova (Russia)Maria Selnes (Norway)Kinga Streszewska (Poland)Katarzyna Sylla (Poland)Anna Trukhina (Russia)Anna Wałek (Poland)Giedrė Žarėnaitė (Lithuania)Laura Zimka (Latvia)

ViolaMikhail Balan (Russia) Nils Biesewig (Germany)Patricia Gomez Carretero (Germany)Aleksandr Dubitsa (Estonia)Teresa Järve (Estonia)Annija Kerno (Latvia)Viktoriia Orlova (Russia) Marina Paccagnan (Germany)Marta Racene (Latvia)Agnieszka Żyniewicz (Poland)

CelloStefano Cucuzzella (Germany)Greta Ernesaks (Estonia)Zuzanna Filipek (Poland)Aleksandra Hermanowska (Poland)Haruko Onoda (Germany)Armas Riives (Estonia)Elzbieta Rychwalska (Poland)Tomasz Szewczyk (Poland)

Double BassMiranda Erlich (Germany)Johann Nikolaus Franz (Germany)Milosz Madejski (Poland)Eduard Gadea Salom (Sweden)Regina Udod (Estonia)Jack Vallinder (Sweden)

FluteYu-Cheng Hsu (Germany)Kaisa Kortelainen (Finland)Maria Luisk (Estonia)

OboeIngely Laiv (Estonia)Celia Olivares (Germany) Annika Oser (Germany)

ClarinetFrederik von Würden (Denmark)Alexey Mikhaylenko (Russia)Jure Robek (Germany)

BassoonXavier Vidal Alemañ (Sweden)Karolina Borodacz (Poland)Arseniy Shakptsov (Russia)


French HornDominik Kosyrczyk (Poland) Jenni Lamminen (Finland)Cesar Cabanero Martinez (Germany)Grigory Yakubovich (Russia)

TrumpetJosé Ángel Toscano Fernández (Germany) Katja Lasser (Germany)Daniel Stadtfeld (Germany)

TromboneRina Endo (Germany)Philip Pineda Resch (Germany)Jüri Leek (Estonia)

TubaLudwig Angerhöfer (Germany)

HarpMaria-Theresa Freibott (Germany)

PianoAretas Botyrius (Lithuania)

PercussionLauri Ahone (Estonia)Konrad-Wilhelm Angerhöfer (Germany)Markus Knoben (Germany)Mathias Matland (Norway)

Composition WorkshopJan Kohl (Germany)Gilberto Moreno Ramos (Germany)Aleksejs Peguševs (Latvia)Mari Sainio (Finland)

Conducting WorkshopAlexey Mikhaylenko (Russia)Arseniy Shakptsov (Russia)Martynas Stakionis (Lithuania)Edmar Tuul (Estonia)

Assistant ConductorMarlon Chen

TeamThomas Hummel (Executive Director)Jutta Loosen (Communications Director)Rita Sosedow (Production Manager)Vivian Boerschmann (Project Assistant)Juliane Gröger (Project Assistant)Katharina Wickel (Project Assistant)Alexander Datz (Press Officer)Ariane Todes (International Communications)Oliver Kietzmann (Ass. to Executive Director)Thomas Hesse (Stage Manager)Andriy Lukyanets (Stage Manager)

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Building a legacyThe Baltic Sea Music Education Foundation e. V.was born out of the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic,and has ambitious plans for the future

BYP started off as a project, but itsimmediate success was enormous,inspiring young players, audiences and politicians, through its values of passion, community and innovation. And as itsmessage of social progress throughmusic education got through wherever it performed, the organisation’s ambitions grew, necessitating the formation of an association under German law – Baltic Sea Music Education Foundation.

Our Academy LAB sessions (see page 24) have become well-known for theirinnovative approach to orchestral training and the intense focus they offer students. Since 2010 they have also included work-shops for conductors and composers.

Alongside these sessions and tours, we have developed a programme of outreach work among the communities in which BYP performs. During its 2015 ‘Baltic Sea Voyage’ tour in September, orchestramembers ran workshops with localmusicians in Heiden, Germany, coaching local brass and marching bands, and then performing with them. They also gave two special concerts for Danish schools in Copenhagen, offering the chance for3,400 school children to experience live classical music, many for the first time.This cooperation for the project ‘Into the Music’ with DR Musikarium with itseducational work is now an essential part of the foundation’s work and will be continued this year, in the autumn.

And so, from the initial goals of bringing people together, BMEF has developed into a fully-fledged Baltic Sea music education system. For 2016 and beyond, we look forward to continuing our progress and innovation, bringing music to moreplayers and audiences, and to futuregenerations of music lovers, andmaking the world a better place.

‘We have developed our initial idea of Baltic culture and national identity, and music without borders, intoa complex educational programme’

Dr Dirk von Ameln, Chairman of the Foundation, is passionate about his work with the organisation and the orchestras. He explains how society can learn from BYP: ‘With BYP, you see young people playing music on a voluntary basis, doing it well, and focused on working together. This is rare for today’s society, in which many young people are bored by what they think they need to do and spend so much time in their own space. In BYP you see young people who are dedicated and successful, but they also enjoy themselves. They are a lesson to us all, and also to industry. They prove that doing a job well can be the most gratifying thing you can do in life. They all come from different countries and yet there is no competition or conflict between them: they help each other and bring each other forward, which is so important. Music can be a tool to demonstrate that peaceful coexistence can easily be achieved when people just do something together.

The BYP experience isn’t just about the music, though: it’s about the excitementthat you see and feel, which jumps overinto the audience. Hearing BYP is abouthaving fun and being entertained. We’re taking music off its pedestal, bringing itinto people’s lives.’

‘In BYP you see young people who are dedicated and successful, but they also have fun. They are a lesson to us all, and also to industry’

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Published byBaltic Sea Music Education Foundation e. V.Strasse der Pariser Kommune 3810243 Berlin, GermanyPhone: +49 (0)30 297 702 90Fax: +49 (0)30 297 702 92Email: [email protected]

Dr Dirk von Ameln, Chairman of the BoardJan Lundin, Deputy ChairmanRolf Seelige-Steinhoff, Deputy ChairmanFrank Häuser, TreasurerMatthias Warnig, President of the Boardof TrusteesProf Dr h. c. Cornelia Pieper, Special EnvoyBaltic Sea Philharmonic Kristjan Järvi, Founding Conductor andMusic DirectorThomas Hummel, Executive DirectorJutta Loosen, Communications Director

Artistic CouncilValery Gergiev, Marek Janowski,Mariss Jansons, Kurt Masur (†),Esa-Pekka Salonen

EditorsMatthias Corvin, Jutta Loosen, Ariane Todes

DesignBrousse & Ruddigkeit, Anna Kusnier

PhotosAll photographs by Peter Adamik,except page 13 Franck Ferville,page 15 Columbia Artists Management Inc.,page 17 Petri Porkola

AcknowledgementsBaltic Sea Music Education Foundation is grateful for all the support received throughout the year by individual persons, companies and institutions, as well as all music lovers. Many thanks to all of them!

We would especially like to thank the Great Amber Concert Hall and the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra in Liepāja, Latvia,for their collaboration during our Academy LAB in April 2016.

A special thanks to violinist David Nebeland Alexander Gilman, LGT Young Soloist from Zug, Switzerland as well as Vilius Keras from Vilnius, Lithuania for the recording session of the ‘Baltic Sea Landscapes’ album in Liepāja, Latvia.

We would like to welcomeHeike Mackenbach and Jens Lange as well as Maximilian Hofmann, Max Streicher GmbH & Co. KG aA, as supporters and thank them for their contribution to our Academy LAB 2016.

A great thank you to all the music academies involved in our 2016 projects and for their support and help.

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Tour Programme 'Baltic Sea Landscapes