Social cohesion
Tomorrow's musicians today!
KfW has been supporting Young Euro Classic, the international festival of the world’s best youth orchestras, for almost 25 years and is also the main partner of the opening concert with the Romanian National Youth Orchestra. With its long-standing commitment to the festival, is promoting the prospects of young European musicians, in line with its mission as a responsible bank. Under the motto “Tomorrow's musicians today!", young virtuosos will once again enthuse classics-loving audiences in Berlin for two and a half weeks.
"Young Euro Classic 2025" (1:55 min.)
(Source: KfW / Detlev Karres / Thomas Schuch)
'Konzerthaus Berlin'
This year, youth orchestras from more than 60 countries are performing in the Great Hall of the Konzerthaus Berlin, on Gendarmenmarkt square.
In its 26th season, Young Euro Classic is celebrating its founding motivation: the European idea of freedom, equality, solidarity!
As former Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and ZEIT publisher Michael Naumann once put it, the festival aims to be “the music room of this European house”, designed by the young orchestras with their unique playing pleasure, skills and national musical peculiarities. Because they are the “residents of the future” who use their energy and confidence to draft and shape their musical perspective.
This includes using music to express the European idea as part of a diverse world with different cultural perspectives.
National Youth Orchestra of Romania
Virtuoso
The opening concert of the National Youth Orchestra Romania thrilled the audience in the sold-out concert hall.
This year, the Romanian National Youth Orchestra will perform in the opening concert of the festival on 1 August 2025. Austrian conductor Katharina Wincor will take the baton at the venerable Konzerthaus Berlin and Romanian violinist Ioana Cristina Goicea, who trained in Germany, will perform the solo part. In addition to works by Jean Sibelius and Adrian Pop, guests can expect to hear Sergey Rachmaninov’s “Symphonic Dances”, a piece of music that the Russian composer and pianist himself once described as his best work.
Marin Cazacu
Founder of the Romanian Youth Orchestra, Director of the Philharmonic and Cellist.
The National Youth Orchestra of Romania was founded in 2008 by experienced cellist Marin Cazacu, today’s Director of the George Enescu Philharmonic: "I feel very connected to Europe. And music is so important in Europe, as are diplomacy, politics, education – everything one needs to know. Sharing music with other people is something special."
This is not the only reason why the Romanian National Youth Orchestra has been a member of the European Federation of National Youth Orchestras (EFNYO) since 2011. For Cazacu at the time, the decisive motivation for establishing a national youth orchestra was the fact that young musical talent had never played in an orchestra before the age of 18.
As part of the pro-European youth music centre Tinerimea Română in Bucharest, young Romanian talents are trained in in three different age groups: the youngest learn at the age of 12 to 15, followed by the middle age group from are 15 to 18 years. Only musicians between 18 and 28 years old represent the Romanian Youth Orchestra on concert trips abroad.
Photo gallery
Valeria-Andreea Raducanu (27 years)
Violinist
Maestro Cristian Mandeal
Conductor and musical director of the Romanian National Youth Orchestra.
The well-known pianist and conductor Cristian Mandeal is the long-time teacher of the young virtuosos at Tinerimea Română. As a maestro, he learnt his craft from the best in his profession: Herbert von Karajan in Berlin and Sergiu Celibidache in Munich. Before the big performance in Berlin, he conducts a final dress rehearsal in Bucharest.
Since 2012, the youth orchestra has regularly played at the Young Euro Classic in Berlin in various forms. For many of the talented virtuosos, the festival in the Konzerthaus Berlin is their biggest international stage to date.
Dress rehearsal
At the ‘Tinerimea Română’ music centre in Bucharest, the youth orchestra is practising for the grand opening concert at the Konzerthaus in Berlin
The three young Romanian violinists Valeria-Andreea, Pârvu and Antoniu-Theodor are already very excited about the upcoming performance of their youth orchestra at Young Euro Classic in Berlin: "We are so lucky to be playing here", says 27-year-old Valeria-Andreea Răducanu. Her 22-year-old musician colleague Pârvu Georgică-Alexandru is also very excited to perform at Berlin's concert hall for the first time, because "this festival is an excellent opportunity for all young musicians to do incredible things".
At the age of 30, Antoniu-Theodor Andreescu, who is already a somewhat more experienced concertmaster and First Violinist, admits that although it's not his first time playing at the Konzerthaus, he really appreciates the special energy between the orchestra and the audience: "The whole festival has an incredible energy. And it’s always a blessing to be there."
Adriana-Loreta Stanescu
Ambassador of Romania to the Federal Republic of Germany.
Romania’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Adriana-Loreta Stănescu, has regularly visited and appreciated the summer concerts of the festival in the German capital. She emphasises the outstanding importance of the Young Euro Classic for her country and its talented youth: "I appreciate the festival. I appreciate its dedication to European values of freedom, equality and solidarity. They are important to all of us in our world, especially in these times."
From her point of view, the fact that the Romanian National Youth Orchestra is even allowed to open the festival for the first time this year is confirmation and appreciation for the young musicians who have grown up together with their audience in Berlin over the past 13 years.
General Manager Young Euro Classic
Dr Gabriele Minz
The cultural manager is one of the founders of Young Euro Classic and has been leading the festival since 2000.
Gabriele Minz is one of the creators and founders of Young Euro Classic. As an experienced cultural manager, she has been the head of the festival from the very beginning. Together with her team, she takes care of all organisational aspects.
The official organizer of the concert festival is the German Friendship Association of European Youth Orchestras, whose artistic advisory board includes a veritable who's who of internationally renowned classical conductors and virtuosos: Daniel Barenboim, Iván Fischer, Gidon Kremer, Patrick Lange, Kent Nagano, Michael Sanderling and Maxim Vengerov.
European idea
Young Euro Classic
Young Euro Classic 2025
The sought-after tickets and all other information about the festival can be found on the website.
Read moreFrom the very beginning, cultural policy has been at the heart of the European idea behind the festival. Over the years, a special ritual has developed: before each concert, a female or male patron, usually personalities from politics, business and the media, greets the audience and talks about the cultural idea of the festival.
The successes of Young Euro Classic in almost a quarter of a century are impressively expressed in statistics: More than 28,000 young musicians from more than 60 countries have already performed at this summer event promoting musical understanding between nations.
The festival has attracted considerably more attention to youth orchestras around the world and is now even held up as a benchmark internationally. In Central and Eastern European countries, Young Euro Classic has noticeably increased awareness of the importance of youth orchestras. Anyone who is celebrated for their music at the Konzerthaus Berlin can take this home with them as a reference. The Romanian National Youth Orchestra is one excellent example of this.
Artistic Directors of Young Euro Classic
'Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt'
The Konzerthaus was built in 1821 according to the plans of Karl Friedrich Schinkel in the classicist style. After extensive restoration following war damage, the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt was ceremoniously reopened in 1984.
Following the death of the musical doyen of Young Euro Classic Prof. Dieter Rexroth in spring 2024, the artistic direction of the festival was jointly entrusted to internationally experienced musician Alban Gerhardt and composer Mathias Hinke.
Artistic co-director of Young Euro Classic and Cellist.
The renowned cello virtuoso Alban Gerhardt is particularly fascinated by the special energy that arises during the festival weeks between the young musicians and the Berlin audience at the concert hall on Gendarmenmarkt:
"There is no other festival in the world where international youth orchestras come together in such numbers. And in one of the most beautiful concert halls in the world, we offer them the opportunity to perform music from their country in front of a sold-out and enthusiastic audience."
In times of scarce public funds, the festival is also facing immense financial challenges. Alban Gerhardt sees it as his job to find even more private sponsors in addition to the artistic management of the festival. To this end, he is particularly involved in numerous discussions and private concerts among the circle of friends of Young Euro Classic. In this context, the cellist is particularly grateful to KfW for its long-standing support of the festival:
"KfW’s support is what enables the festival to exist in the first place. In such unstable political times, stability and support are the most important things that cultural organisations need."
“KfW has been a proud partner of the largest festival for youth orchestras for almost 25 years”
About KfW
KfW is one of the world’s leading promotional banks. Since 1948 KfW has been committed to improving economic, social and environmental living conditions across the globe on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany and the federal states.
Read moreFor Stefan Wintels, Chief Executive Officer of KfW, the long-standing commitment to Young Euro Classic is an important contribution to building musical and cultural bridges:
"KfW has been a proud partner of the largest festival for youth orchestras for almost 25 years. We strongly and passionately support this coming together of young people from all over the world."
ARTE Concert
The opening concert and the concerts from 1 to 6 August 2025 will be streamed live on ARTE Concert and can then be accessed from the media library at ARTE Concert.
ARTE ConcertAs in previous years, the French-German broadcaster ARTE TV is once again broadcasting some live concerts. This offers all those spectators who were unable to purchase a coveted ticket the opportunity to enjoy classical orchestral music from the concert hall on their own screen.
Published on KfW Stories on 17 July 2025, updated on 8 August 2025.
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