Orchestra Academy Carinthia | Young talents from all over the country are performing

The musicians come from all 27 music schools in the state and therefore from all regions of Carinthia. The youngest participants are ten years old, but older students are also welcome: “We have music students of all ages. And if children start playing a string instrument at an early age, they can also apply for the orchestra academy at an early age,” says Andreas Schaffer, director of the Gustav Mahler Music School in Klagenfurt and coordinator of the orchestra academy, about this “cross-generational” project.

The academy was founded nine years ago to offer young talent sustainable training in orchestral music and consists of the Lower Carinthian Youth Symphony Orchestra with around 60 members and the Upper Carinthian Youth Symphony Orchestra with around 80 musicians. “Playing music in an orchestra is always an important social experience: who sets the tone? Who do you follow? It’s learning from and with each other,” says Schaffer.

Participation was advertised in the spring, and rehearsals have been busy recently on the weekends. Now the predominantly young musicians will show what they have learned in two individual concerts and in a large joint concert at the Ossiach Music Academy. They were guided by two guest conductors: Martin Fuchsberger, who teaches orchestral conducting at the Mahler Private University, worked with the Upper Carinthia Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Edwin Cáceres with the musicians in Lower Carinthia. And they have selected colorful programs for the young talents: The range extends from Tchaikovsky’s suite “Swan Lake” to John Williams’ “Star Wars” (Youth Symphony Lower Carinthia) and from Schubert’s “Symphony No. 7” to Rodgers/Hammerstein’s “Sound of Music” (Upper Carinthia). “We try to play as much original literature as possible, but if it gets too difficult, we resort to arrangements,” says Schaffer. And adds: “The two orchestras watch each other very closely; it almost has a competitive character at times.”