Prague: a final bow

The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra’s 2008 European Tour comes to a dramatic close in the beautiful city of Prague. One of the few large cities undamaged by World War II, Prague’s cityscape is a stunning mix of medieval buildings, labyrinthian cobbled lanes, picturesque bridges, art deco and art nouveau masterpieces next to churches and ancient courtyards, all overseen by an 1100 year old castle.





Since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1990, Prague has become one of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations. The tourist crowds and brand name shops have blighted the old world flavor slightly, as this is not a town built for mass-tourism, but the city’s charm is unalterable.





The Youth Orchestra members tour the city upon arrival, getting a first hand view of the 10 centuries old Prague castle, walk across the Charles Bridge (spanning the Vltava River – or Moldau as its commonly known in German) and stroll through ancient streets to scenic old town hall square.





Prague is also one of the cultural centers of Europe with hundreds of concert halls, galleries and performance spaces. One of the world’s great music festivals, the Prague Spring Festival, is held here each May, hosting the world’s great orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony in recent years. The city’s cultural history is rich, home to composers Dvorak and Smetana; Mozart lived here briefly and conducted the world premiere of Don Giovanni in the city.



The Youth Orchestra’s performs its final concert of the tour in beautiful Smetana Hall. Named for the popular Czech composer Bedrich Smetana (1824-84), Smetana Hall sits in one of the world’s most distinctive Art Nouveau buildings, the Municipal House in the heart of the old town. The building opened in 1912 and was the scene of the proclamation of the independent state of Czechoslovakia. The landmark building was painstakingly restored in 1997 and its interior concert hall with a capacity of 1100 serves as a stunning venue for the YO’s final tour concert.










Once again the acoustics differ greatly from previous tour venues. After stepping out into the hall to hear the acoustics from the audience’s perspective, SFSYO Music Director Benjamin Shwartz turns to the brass and asks, “I’m trying to decide how much pain we should put these people in. This is a small hall, and the brass gets really loud.” But painful it was not; the Orchestra adjusted its dynamics and sounded fantastic.







The Orchestra’s concert in Prague was presented in part by the US Embassy as a social outing for the local diplomatic corps, and many were in attendance, including the Ambassadors of Brazil, Norway and Argentina and the embassy staffs of Mexico and Israel. The U.S. Ambassador was unfortunately detained with Condoleezza Rice in town, but sent his Cultural Attaché. The biggest bouquet of flowers though came from an appreciative host, the Czech Minister of Culture.



As a recent YO tour review stated:

"...Old Europe could learn a thing or two from this talented young group."


But this talented group of young musicians learned a lot from Old Europe as well. The incredibly attentive and enthusiastic audiences throughout the continent’s cultural capitals taught this group of 104 extraordinary youngsters about the joys of music making at the highest levels in some incredible and diverse venues. The camaraderie developed, the historical insights, the acoustic challenges, all make the Orchestra a better and stronger group. For over two weeks, they impressed the critics and won countless new fans.

Bravo YO. See you in Davies Symphony Hall next year.

Munich: Impressing the critics once again

Munich is rivaled only by Berlin as Germany's most popular tourist destination, and the picture book, fairy tale gothic city is often a contradiction of sophistication and tradition: gleaming new BMW sport coupes driven by Lederhosen clad locals munching on giant pretzels.



The city is a haven for all sorts of culture, with a staggering amount of museums, theaters, galleries and performance venues yielding a very vibrant arts scene. Founded in the 12th century and located on the Isar River just north of the picturesque Bavarian Alps, Munich is Germany’s third largest city, behind Berlin and Hamburg. With its cultural life, weather, picturesque squares and streets, central location, and economic prosperity, Munich ranks consistently in the top 10 cities worldwide in quality of life surveys.









At the center of the city is the Marienplatz, with the old and new town halls flanking the square. Many picturesque churches and cathedrals dot the cityscape, with plenty of open spaces and open air markets for Munich residents and visitors alike to take in the sights and sounds…and of course, the food. Bavarian fare is hearty and tasty and YO parents can be certain none of their children will come home any lighter...


Traditional Bavarian Weisswurst...only eaten before noon!


For those a little hungrier, a half meter long Bratwurst.


Now thats what I call a pretzel.


Sauerbraten (think Teutonic Sweet & Sour Pork)


Always leave room for dessert: with strawberries in season, Erdbeerkuchen mit Schlag.

The Youth Orchestra has been enjoying Bavarian quality of life for several days already, but has saved the Munich concert as its last in Germany, before heading to Prague to close the 2008 European Tour.

The Munich performance takes place in the Munich Philharmonie located in the Gasteig Cultural Center. Inspired by the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Barbican in London, the Gasteig houses not only the 2400 seat Philharmonie but a variety of smaller halls, performance and theater spaces, galleries and libraries. More than 1700 events take place at the Gasteig each year.



The hall is quite large, similar to the Berliner Philharmonie, with wood on all sides, floors and ceilings resulting in very live acoustics.





The YO rehearses, welcoming back violinist Julian Rachlin, who performs the Bruch Violin Concert.



It's concert time and the ensemble has really hit its stride now, with successive concerts giving the musicians a great feel for the works on the program. Many YO members feel this was one of their best performances ever.





And the critics agree. A review in the prestigious German Daily paper Süddeutsche Zeitung summed it up this way:

How long and intense the rehearsals must have been for Bela Bartok’s Dance Suite to sound full of such precision and so musically rich, so warm in the strings, so round in the brass yet always razor sharp.

Rarely do the Scenes from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet contain so much color, drama, expression but yet also tenderness and romance as with the performance by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.

What was heard at the Philharmonie under the direction of Benjamin Shwartz, sounded so phenomenally good, that one must even rank this ensemble among even the top professional orchestras.

Bavarian Summer Festivals Part 2: Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt, a central Bavarian city on the Danube was settled around 800, with plenty of medieval flavor left. These days, it is also known as the headquarters of Audi, and roughly one third of the town’s residents work for the large automobile manufacturer






The YO arrives early for an acoustic rehearsal and a few even test the acoustic effects of the nearby Danube River park.







The Youth Orchestra concert is presented as part of the Audi Summer Concert Series. The crowd is, again, a wonderfully young one, with many children and families in attendance this Sunday evening. Special discounted tickets were made available to Ingolstadt’s schoolchildren and once word spread among the schoolchildren, the concert quickly sold out the Theater Ingolstadt, with a capacity of 1200.



The youth of Ingolstadt is keenly interested in seeing what their counterparts from San Francisco have in store. This young crowd looks remarkably like a San Francisco Symphony Music for Families concert, with many children and young people, perhaps getting their first taste of classical music.



The youthful musicians from Bay Area did not disappoint their German counterparts, who cheered wildly, at an almost deafening volume, as the YO delivered another solid performance and three encores. Another 1200 now fans of classical music, and surely fans of the SFSYO !



A review in the July 8 Donaukurier summed up this successful evening with high praise:

“This American Orchestra plays at a dizzyingly high level, one that, most likely, cannot be matched by another Youth Orchestra anywhere.”

Bravo YO !

At home in the land of Wolfie...

With Munich as the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra’s home base and a non-concert day on the schedule, what better to do with a group of 104 young musicians than to visit the nearby musical mecca, Salzburg, for the day.



Scenic Salzburg, on the banks of the Salzach river, sits at the northern boundary of the Alps. The Altstadt, or "old town", is dominated by its baroque towers and churches and the massive hilltop fortress built in 1077. The first settlements at Salzburg, which means Salt Castle, date back to the Neolithic Age, and merged into one city by the Romans in 15 BC.





Above all, Salzburg is the city of Mozart. Perhaps the most enduringly popular of all composers, Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg in the late 18th century. Mozart's father Leopold Mozart was a violinist in the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg, for whom Mozart also worked for over a decade. There are many monuments to the beloved “Wolferl” throughout Salzburg. Mozart's presence is everywhere: Mozart chocolates line the store windows, Mozart t-shirts, and Mozart look-alikes roaming the streets, but above all, Mozart’s music is heard throughout the picturesque streets and alley ways. The YO members visit the Mozarthaus, where they get a firsthand look at where the composer was born and raised.






The Youth Orchestra musicians also visit the famous Festspielhaus, the Festival Halls where the renowned Salzburger Festspiele (Salzburg Festival) where performances are held each summer. They visit the main concert hall as well as the very unique and scenic indoor/outdoor venue carved into the rocky hillside, known as the Felsenreitschule.





Many who have never been to Salzburg know this hall from a scene in the Sound of Music, as the von Trapp family singers performed on this stage in 1936 (think Capt. Von Trapp getting choked up singing Edelweiss). While the Sound of Music isn’t quite Don Giovanni, YO members nonetheless are singing Do-Re-Mi under their breaths as they make their way around the grounds.





After a magical day in the city of Mozart, the Orchestra heads back to Munich for its final two concerts in Bavaria before heading on to Prague.

Bavarian Summer Festivals Part 1: Passau

After a wildly successful visit to Germany’s capital, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra heads south for three concerts in Bavaria.

On its way to Munich, the Orchestra makes a lunch stop in the city of Leipzig. A city rich in musical and cultural tradition, Leipzig was home to Johann Sebastian Bach. For musicians, a trip to Leipzig to visit the St. Thomas Church where Bach worked is akin to a pilgrimage. Leipzig was also home to Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, at many other musical luminaries at various times.


YO members in front of the Bach statue at the St. Thomas Church


After a hot concert Berlin, YO members cool their heels a bit in a crystal clear stream in Bayreuth, home to the Wagner clan.

Headquarters for the next 5 nights is Munich, with a concert in the city a few days later. But first, the YO performs in two well-known and nearby Bavarian Summer Festivals, in Passau and Ingolstadt.

A two-and-a-half hour ride east brings the Orchestra to Passau, where they are guests at the prestigious European Festival Weeks, in its 56th season.



Passau is a beautiful riverside town in eastern Bavaria with a population of only 50,000, twenty percent of which are students in the local University of Passau. Passau’s history dates back to the 5th century with a construction of a large monastery, and, in 739, an Irish monk founded the diocese of Passau, the largest diocese of the Holy Roman Empire for many years. The organ in the St. Stephen’s cathedral is the world’s largest pipe organ, with Passau is also known as the City of Three Rivers as it sits at the confluence of the Danube, Inn, and Ilz rivers, near the Austrian border. It's incredily charming.


St. Michael's Church in Passau

The Youth Orchestra’s concert is in St. Michael’s Church, a former Jesuit church on the bank of the Inn River, built in 1670. To preserve the architectural dominance of the town’s main St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the exterior of St. Michael’s remained somewhat restrained; but certainly makes up for this with its magnificent interior stucco work.



The YO rehearses in the church, yet another acoustical challenge after performing in a converted shipyard and the Berliner Philharmonie. The reverberant sound of the church interior requires wholesale changes and careful instruction by Benjamin Shwartz to adjust the various works on the program. One sincerely doubts the church acoustics were built for the volume of the brass and percussion in John Adams’ Lollapalooza.









With tight quarters in St. Michael's the Youth Orchestra's dressing rooms are next door, in a former monastery building built in 1612, currently used as a college preparatory school with emphasis on the Classics and Theology. The 17th-century stucco work on the ceilings makes for an inspirational warm-up.





Once again, the house is full, as a delightfully young crowd fills St. Michael’s, with many standing in the highest reaches of the church.









The Orchestra makes the best of the church's acoustics and performs very well. The buses leave Passau for the trip back to Munich just as an all-night festival begins throughout the town, with the adjacent former monastery now filled with the sounds of a strangely alluring techno-skaa-deathmetal-dance band (with amplified tuba, of course). Wow…the YO can really get a party started.

Oh...I almost forgot: as it was the Fourth of July, the local German presenter surprised the Orchestra with a little touch of home. Not milk and cookies this time, but just as wholesome and much appreciated by all.

Embedded reporter tells all...

In case you didn't read Friday's San Francisco Chronicle (DateBook section, E-3), here is Special Chronicle Guest Journalist (and YO french horn player) Kalyn Jang's wonderful article on her experiences in Rostock and Berlin. Kalyn will be reporting three times for the Chronicle:





Horn-player heaven at Berliner Philharmonie
Kalyn Jang, Special to The Chronicle

Friday, July 4, 2008


Nothing says "Welcome to Germany" better than looking out my rainy hotel room window only to see a strangely genderless, naked mannequin staring from the adjacent building. When I opened the curtains to check out the view, there it was - the mannequin - just standing there. The thing was, we weren't sure it was a mannequin, even though it (he?) wasn't moving. My roommate, Sara, who plays trumpet, said, "If he's not there when we wake up tomorrow morning, we're switching rooms!" It stuck around, though, leaving us relieved but no more comfortable in our new surroundings.

I'm seeing Europe for the first time, on a tour with my 103 favorite musicians in the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. Our first two cities and concert halls in Germany couldn't be more different. In Rostock, an industrial town on the Baltic Sea, we're playing in an old converted shipyard, and then in Berlin, in the famous Berliner Philharmonie. Most musicians only dream of playing there.

Fighting jetlag, I was at the point where being tired didn't matter anymore because the excitement of being in Germany had taken over. From the familiarity of the hotel front, we turned a sharp corner and walked out into a European town. The wide, cobbled main street in Rostock was completely deserted, which was odd since it was light enough to be about 7 p.m. (it was actually about 9 p.m.). We felt like we were in an unreal Disneyland, with candy colored buildings, cheery storefronts, quaint cobblestones and an oversize, ornate clock in the central square.

I wanted so badly to say something in German when I went to a small drugstore near the hotel. But I must have tipped off the cashier with my passport holder, because she looked up and asked shyly in English, "Just this today?" I smiled, but couldn't think of anything to say in German. When she handed me my change, I pounced, and used one of the few German words I know: Danke. During the tour, I am determined to expand my Deutsch vocabulary.

Our concert hall in Rostock was pretty unusual, an old shipyard warehouse converted into a performance space. Paint peeled from the walls and fluttered down on the brass and percussion in the back, and birds flew around the rafters. Since the space tended to blend the orchestral sounds together, we had to play shorter to compensate. With jetlag, making music is a bit of a challenge.

See, as a brass player, it's tough to be away from your instrument for two days. My lip muscles become flabby. It's like a sport - if you don't use the muscles for a few days, they become weaker. The lack of practice time and fatigue didn't make it any easier, but the audience's applause grew more and more generous as the concert progressed, and by the end of Dvorák's "New World" Symphony, one of our tour staple pieces, they were on their feet cheering and whistling. I hear European concertgoers are notoriously harder to impress than their American counterparts, but judging by the number of encores we were given, they loved us.

The idea of playing in the Berliner Philharmonie was almost too much for my imagination, but soon enough, we had arrived at that moment. I stepped onto the stage and savored the hall's unique beauty and sound. Unlike any other hall that I have played in, the Philharmonie is pentagonal, and the audience surrounds the stage on all sides. When I looked around, I felt like I was in a large gladiator pit.



During our tune-up rehearsal, we focused on balance and playing together, which is more difficult in an unfamiliar space. The Philharmonie stage is deep rather than wide, like the stage at Davies, so the low brass had to play slightly ahead of tempo to stay together with the ensemble. I went out into the seats to listen, and was amazed by the musical nuances picked up by the hall - you can hear everything, and from anywhere in the hall. Blasting (a common brass player expression) is a no-no at the Philharmonie since it would be too overwhelming. I had to keep that in mind during the Dvorak, when the horns have a fantastic heart-thumpingly exciting melody.

After our funky rock-inspired opener, "Lollapalooza" by John Adams, I imagined what the audience was thinking during their applause: "Well, that was interesting, and well played, too, but a little strange ..."

The Dvorak, in my opinion, was more dramatic, precise and beautiful than any of our other performances. The significance of performing such a well-known symphony in the Berlin Philharmonie struck me as I listened to the wistful English horn solo during the second movement. In a moment of intense consciousness, I looked all around at the audience, and the hall, realizing, wow, I really am here.

As soon as Benjamin Shwartz, our fearless maestro, cut off the last note, a huge grin spread over my face. Whenever I finish a concert, I feel so relieved and also proud of the music I helped to create. We received countless encores and even a standing ovation for an energetic "Mela Prati," a fun piece in which we imitate the sound of Indian drums with short, explosive syllables: Bop! Shoo! Boo! Doo! Da! I find it hilarious that such an odd piece is so well received. Of course, if I were in the audience watching an American youth orchestra and they pulled that out of their sleeve, I'd love it too!






Reprinted courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle 7/4/2008

Berlin: Triumphant Debut at the Philharmonie

The SFS Youth Orchestra arrives in Germany’s capital, Berlin, just in time to see the country’s national soccer team lose to Spain in the European Championships. While the mood of the country is a bit sour, as they live for their soccer team over here, most recognize that the better team won, and are able to move on with their lives. And they must move on with their lives; after all, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra is in town!



Members of the YO have been eagerly awaiting this tour stop: exceedingly excited for what awaits them in this fascinating city as well as performing here in this cultural Mecca. Berlin has arguably one of the great concert halls in the world and the importance of the YO debut in the Philharmonie is not lost on anyone on tour. But the Philharmonic will have to wait. First a bit of sightseeing to get to know Berlin.


The Berlin Wall


YO members at the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin

Berlin’s history has modest beginnings as a regional trading center in the 13th century, but has taken center stage in 20th century world history, as ground zero for World War I, II, the Cold War, and then reunification of a divided country after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. Today, with a population of 3.5 million, it is the heart of modern Germany and Europe’s capital of cool, a dynamic and creative city with grand public buildings, glorious museums, theaters and concert halls, and vibrant cultural life.

The YO pays a visit to one of Germany’s great palaces, Sans Souci, just outside Berlin in Potsdam. Built in 1745 as a summer palace for Frederic the Great, Sans Souci is Germany’s more intimately Rococo version of Versailles.


Members of the YO in Potsdam


The YO also arrives at a time when Berlin is celebrating an important anniversary. At the end of World War II, Berlin, as was the rest of Germany, was also divided into four occupation zones, and all four allies retained shared responsibility for Berlin. But a political power play led the Soviet Union (which controlled the eastern part of the city) to impose an economic blockade of Berlin in June 1948, essentially holding a city hostage, shut off within the Soviet controlled East German sector. The US and its allies successfully overcame the blockade through a heroic effort of airlifting food and supplies into the city for almost an entire year. The numbers are staggering, over 280,000 flights carried in over 2,000,000 tons of food and supplies to the grateful residents of Berlin. The YO arrives in Germany as the country celebrates the 60th anniversary of the airlift. German Consul for Cultural Affairs in San Francisco, Karsten Tietz, attended the YO bon voyage concert last Sunday at Davies Symphony Hall and remarked to SFSYO patrons and donors that this anniversary is a very important and deeply meaningful to all Germans and cemented, an event that cemented German- American friendship in the immediate post-war era. The planes that brought food and supplies were affectionately known as "Candy Bombers", delivering a few luxurious treats for Berlin’s many homeless children along with the lifesaving supplies.


One of the planes used in the Berlin airlift is lifted itself

Today, the orchestra visits one of the visible remnants of the cold war and separation of Berlin, the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, an infamous crossover from West to East.



But the raison d’etre for this visit to Germany’s capital is, of course, the debut of the SFSYO at the famed Berlin Philarmonie. The gold colored modernist structure (one doesn’t dare say yellow…) was built in 1963 and designed by Hans Scharoun. It is widely regarded as having some of the best acoustics in the world. And home to the equally famed Berlin Philharmonic, one of the top orchestras in the world, and a very knowledgeable audience, performing at the Berlin Philharmonie is special for any orchestra, be it the San Francisco Symphony or the Youth Orchestra.


The Berlin Philharmonie

Members of the Orchestra arrive and take in the sights and sounds of the hall, many taking photos, thrilled that this moment has arrived. How many people can say they have played on the stage of the Berlin Phil, or the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, or the Vienna Musikverein? This is what makes the SFSYO such an incredible program for the young musicians. Whether they go on to musical careers or not (and about 30% of the orchestra does), noone can take away the memories of playing in some of the world’s great concert venues and the camaraderie that goes along with this experience.






French horn player Kalyn Jang in front of the Berlin Philharmonie. Don't miss Kalyn's YO tour diary in the SF Chronicle tomorrow. Kalyn will report three times for the paper throughout the tour. Joshua Kosman look out!

But only 2 months ago, many weren’t sure this moment would happen. On May 20th, freak welding accident caused the roof of the Berlin Philharmonie to erupt in flames. Luckily, and through efforts of the local fire brigades, the damage was kept mainly to the roof and only several weeks of concerts needed to be canceled to repair the hall enough to continue. The roof will need repair, and the YO concert will be the closing concert of the Philharmonie’s season before repairs begin.


The Berlin Philharmonie two months ago, in flames.

Berlin’s audiences are passionate and knowledgeable, as for many Germans, classical music is a normal part of their everyday lives. While German schools don’t have programs like the SFS’s Adventures in Music, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, music instruction is a part of the school curriculum, and concert halls and orchestras receive much state funding to keep prices reasonable for all to attend classical concerts on a regular basis. That being said, Berlin audiences are fickle, and one never knows how concerts like this will sell in summer months, especially not being part of a festival. But Berliners know their music and they know a good orchestra when they see one. Media placements, posters, radio previews all heralded the arrival of the Orchestra, and tickets were in high demand.

In fact, the concert in Berlin is sold out! Eager patrons are turned away at the door. The SFSYO has filled the Philharmonie....quite a feat. The SFSYO has a rightly deserved reputation as one of the world’s best Youth Orchestras, having performed regularly in the great concert halls of Europe every three or four years, and the Berliners are anxious to hear what these Californians can do. Reviewers from the major daily papers are in attendance and awaiting the show.








The moment has arrived, concert time at the Berlin Philharmonie. And in my humble opinion, the Orchestra delivered one of the finer performances this blog writer has seen the YO perform. The warmth of the strings, the crispness of the winds and brass, and the ensemble playing as one made believers out of 2400+ Berliners. In Germany, the term Youth Orchestra usually refers to orchestras with twentysomethings populating the stage. When a group ages 12-21 shows up and delivers a performance of that magnitude, an audience is genuinely moved. Standing ovations and shouting "Zugabe, Zugabe" (encore, encore) are rare in Berlin, but shout they did, and stand they did. The program was the same as that in Rostock, Adams Lollapolooza, Sibelius Violin Concerto with Julian Rachlin, who again played magnificently, and then the Dvorak Symphony No. 9 From the New World. The Berlin audience demanded three encores, but they wanted more. Finally, Maestro Benjamin Schwartz took concertmaster Hannah Tarley by the hand and left the stage….or else we may still be there cheering. Even the Berlin Philharmonic’s Sound Engineer, who was taping the concert remarked what a “wonderful sound” this orchestra has. Not bad praise from someone who has seen and heard a lot. All in all, a triumphant debut at the Berlin Phil. The gleaming faces of the young musicians from San Francisco showed it all: they blew the roof off the joint and they knew it. But that’s okay, the roof needed fixing anyway.

Arrival in Germany: with a slightly nautical theme

The San Francisco Symphohny Youth Orchestra’s 8th international tour is off and running. 104 very excited members of the SFSYO, ranging in ages from 12-21 cross the Atlantic and arrive in the first tour city, Rostock, the northeastern Gerrman seaport town on the Baltic.



For many young musicians, this tour is their first trip out of the United States, to Europe or into Germany. After arrival at Berlin’s Tegel Airport, the Orchestra makes its way to Rostock, and the three hour bus ride through the wooded Mecklenburg-Vorpommern countryside goes quickly. Jet lag is just a state of mind when such exciting times loom ahead. The chatter of what to expect in Germany, in the concert halls, in the tour cities, the food, the people; fills the buses as the Orchestra arrives and explores the town of Rostock.





With a population of just under 200,000, Rostock has a rich seafaring history dating back to the middle ages, and soon became a powerful member of the Hanseatic League in the 14th century. Large sailing ships were built in its shipyards from medieval times until the 19th century, where the first German steamships were built. The University of Rostock, one of Northern Europe’s oldest, was founded here in 1419 and had as a professor one Albert Einstein.





For most, Rostock is the first glimpse of what used to be East Germany. After being defeated in World War II, Germany was divided into 4 sectors, each controlled by one of the victorious allies. While the western sectors controlled by the Americans, British, and French were to become a revived democratic Germany, the northeastern sector was controlled by the Russians, who, in the years following the war, shut off its borders and formed a communist state as part of its eastern bloc of puppet states, separate and isolated from its western neighbors and countrymen. This was not just the start of the cold war between Russia and the US, but was a terribly difficult time for Germans. Borders were sealed and friends and family separated, almost overnight … travel was restricted, friends and families separated and unable to see each other, cut off from communication and contact. Under decades of communist rule, life in East Germany was hard, economic woes and oppression took its toll on the people, cities and culture of this half of Germany. But, the eventual fall of the eastern bloc through peaceful demonstrations in the late 80’s finally broke down the walls that separated Germans from Germans for almost 40 years. Today, the east is once again part of a united Germany, and the long task of revitalizing and redeveloping this part of the country is under way. But I digress….

Given Rostock’s history as an important shipbuilding town, it is only fitting that the Youth Orchestra’s first concert venue is...a former shipyard.


The Neptune Shipyard when active decades ago


The Neptune Shipyard today

Built in 1891, the former Neptunwerft shipyard is part of the slow but steady revitalization of eastern Germany, as old industrial complexes are converted into art galleries, performance spaces, residential or commercial buildings. The old shipyard is now used an über-hip industrial chic concert venue, used by the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, which presents the SFSYO concert here in Rostock. The YO performs in “Hall No. 207, Neptune Shipyard.” Not the most romantic sounding name for a concert hall, but the venue works.

Arriving at the concert hall for rehearsal, the unique surroundings make one wonder about acoustics, but those worries are laid to rest immediately as the hall delivers a brilliant sound. Natural light floods in from the glass roof, and the sound carries nicely throughout the outer reaches of the shipyard.







In Rostock, the YO is joined by 34 year old Lithuanian-Austrian violinist Julian Rachlin, as soloist with the Orchestra at this concert and throughout the tour. Rachlin still holds the honor of being the youngest violin soloist to perform with the Vienna Philharmonic. Here in Rostock, Rachlin and the Orchestra perform the Sibelius Violin Concerto.


Julian Rachlin in rehearsal with the YO

The urban industrial chic shipyard concert hall is filled to the brim on this Saturday night, as almost 800 Rostockians make their way to the Shipyard to hear the YO. A few dignitaries dot the crowd: the Rostock mayor, the Music Director of the North German Philharmonic, Rostock Television, and the local newspaper Ostseezeitung are all here to hear this talented group.






Julian Rachlin with SFSYO concertmaster Hannah Tarley


SFSYO Music Director Benjamin Shwartz





And the YO delivers with a magnificent performance for their opening act of the 2008 European Tour. On the program tonight John Adams’ Lollapalooza, the Sibelius Violin Concert with Julian Rachlin and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 From the New World. And this talented group of young musicians from the New World is rewarded by the appreciative and attentive audience with three curtain calls. A wildly successful opening to the tour and a well deserved snack of milk and cookies awaits before heading home to the hotel. It's off to the capital tomorrow...Berlin awaits!