Honeck and the Power of Youth

The Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO) was founded in Vienna in 1986/87 on the initiative of Claudio Abbado. Today, it is regarded as the world’s leading youth orchestra and was honoured by the European Cultural Foundation in 2007.

Abbado was keen to encourage the music-making of young Austrian musicians together with colleagues from the then-socialist republics of Czechoslovakia and Hungary. As a consequence, the GMJO became the first international youth orchestra to hold open auditions in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc. In 1992, the GMJO opened up to musicians aged up to 26 from all over Europe. As the youth orchestra for the whole of Europe, it is under the patronage of the Council of Europe.

Each year, auditions take place in over twenty-five European cities, where an international jury selects candidates from more than 2,500 applicants. This jury is composed of prominent orchestral musicians, who also mentor and prepare the musicians in their respective sections during the orchestra’s rehearsal periods.

The GMJO’s tour repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary music, with a strong focus on the great symphonic works of the Romantic and late Romantic periods. Its artistic excellence and international acclaim have attracted many of the world’s leading conductors and soloists, including Claudio Abbado, David Afkham, Herbert Blomstedt, Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun Chung, Teodor Currentzis, Sir Colin Davis, Peter Eötvös, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Daniele Gatti, Michael Gielen, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrůša, Neeme and Paavo Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Philippe Jordan, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Neville Marriner, Ingo Metzmacher, Kent Nagano, Václav Neumann, Jonathan Nott, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Thielemann, Lorenzo Viotti, and Franz Welser-Möst.

Among the renowned soloists who have collaborated with the GMJO are Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Lisa Batiashvili, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Angela Denoke, Christian Gerhaher, Matthias Goerne, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Leonidas Kavakos, Evgeny Kissin, Christa Ludwig, Radu Lupu, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anne Sofie von Otter, Maxim Vengerov, and Frank Peter Zimmermann.

For many years, the GMJO has been a regular guest at the most prestigious concert halls and festivals worldwide, including the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the Philharmonie in Berlin. It has also performed at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Semperoper and Kulturpalast in Dresden, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Mozarteum Argentino in Buenos Aires. The orchestra is frequently invited to leading festivals such as the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, the BBC Proms, and the Lucerne Festival. Since its early years, the GMJO has maintained a close collaboration with the Salzburg Festival.

Numerous former members of the GMJO now hold positions in leading European orchestras, many as principal players. In recognition of this, a partnership was established with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden in 2012, which was expanded in 2024 in cooperation with the Dresdner Philharmonie at the Kulturpalast.

Since its founding in 1986/87, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester has received substantial support from the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport, as well as from the cultural department of the City of Vienna.

In 2012, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester was appointed “Ambassador UNICEF Austria.”

source: Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester

Over the last quarter-century, Manfred Honeck has firmly established himself as one of the world’s leading conductors, renowned for his distinctive interpretations and arrangements across a wide range of repertoire. He is now in his 16th season as Music Director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Together, they have continued a legacy of exceptional music-making, earning multiple Grammy nominations and winning the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance. Celebrated both in Pittsburgh and internationally, Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra serve as cultural ambassadors for the city, making them one of the most frequently toured American orchestras.

Born in Austria, Manfred Honeck received his musical training at the Academy of Music in Vienna. His years of experience as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra have profoundly shaped his approach to conducting. He began his career as an assistant to Claudio Abbado and was later engaged by the Zurich Opera House, where he was awarded the prestigious European Conductor’s Award. Following early posts with the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, he was appointed Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm. He also served for several years as Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2007 to 2011, Manfred Honeck was Music Director of the Staatsoper Stuttgart.

As a guest conductor, Manfred Honeck has collaborated with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Staatskapelle Dresden, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the Vienna Philharmonic. He is also a frequent guest with all major American orchestras. His operatic engagements have included performances at the Semperoper Dresden, the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, and the Salzburg Festival.

Manfred Honeck holds honorary doctorates from several North American universities and was awarded the honorary title of Professor by the Austrian Federal President. In 2018, an international jury of critics named him “Artist of the Year” at the International Classical Music Awards.

source: Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester

French violinist Renaud Capuçon is firmly established internationally as a major soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He is known and loved for his poise, depth of tone, and virtuosity, performing with the world’s most prestigious orchestras, artists, venues, and festivals.

Born in Chambéry in 1976, Renaud Capuçon began his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of fourteen, winning numerous awards during his five years there. He later moved to Berlin to study with Thomas Brandis and Isaac Stern and was awarded the Prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts. In 1997, Claudio Abbado invited him to become concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, a position he held for three summers, working with conductors including Boulez, Ozawa, Welser-Möst, and Claudio Abbado.

Since then, Capuçon has established himself as a soloist at the highest level. He performs with leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, London Symphony Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Münchner Philharmoniker, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. His many conductor collaborations include Barenboim, Bychkov, Dénève, Dohnányi, Dudamel, Eschenbach, Haitink, Harding, Paavo Järvi, Mäkelä, Nelsons, Nézet-Séguin, Roth, Shani, Sokhiev, Ticciati, Long Yu, and van Zweden. Highlights of the 2024/25 season include European tours with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer and the Vienna Symphony under Petr Popelka, a return to the Toronto Symphony with Gustavo Gimeno, and the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Violin Concerto with the New York Philharmonic under Marin Alsop.

Capuçon is deeply committed to chamber music, collaborating with artists such as Martha Argerich, Nicholas Angelich, Daniel Barenboim, Yuri Bashmet, Yefim Bronfman, Khatia Buniatishvili, Hélène Grimaud, Igor Levit, Yo-Yo Ma, Maria João Pires, Kian Soltani, Daniil Trifonov, and Yuja Wang, as well as his brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon. His chamber performances have taken him to leading festivals, including those in Berlin, Lucerne, Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, La Roque d’Anthéron, San Sebastián, Stresa, Salzburg, Edinburgh International, and Tanglewood. Capuçon has also represented France at some of the world’s most prestigious international events, performing with Yo-Yo Ma under the Arc de Triomphe for the official commemoration of Armistice Day in the presence of over 80 heads of state and playing for world leaders at the G7 Summit in Biarritz.

Since 2021, Capuçon has been Artistic Director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, where he regularly appears as both conductor and play-director. He is frequently invited to conduct leading orchestras, including the Vienna Symphony, Luxembourg Philharmonic, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Orchestra Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Capuçon is also the Artistic Director of three festivals: the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad (since 2016), the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, which he founded in 2013, and, most recently, the Rencontres Musicales Festival in Evian (since 2023).

Capuçon has built an extensive discography. In September 2022, he announced the launch of his creative partnership with Deutsche Grammophon, and two months later released his first album with the yellow label—a collection of violin sonatas recorded with Martha Argerich at his Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence. His more recent releases include a multi-CD album of Mozart’s 16 violin sonatas with pianist Kit Armstrong, a recording of the complete Mozart violin concertos with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and, most recently, a collection of works by Fauré—marking the centenary of the composer’s death—performed with Julia Hagen, Guillaume Bellom, and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne.

Since 2014, Capuçon has taught at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne. In June 2011, he was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite, and in March 2016, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by the French Government. In March 2020, he published his first book, Mouvement perpétuel.

Capuçon plays the Guarneri del Gesù "Panette" (1737), which previously belonged to Isaac Stern.

source: Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester