The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra puts education policy at the top of its agenda with the fifth edition of Concertgebouw Orchestra YOUNG.
As state-funded music tuition across Europe falls by the way-side and reports suggest that learning an instrument increasingly becomes an activity for the rich, discussion in classical music circles often centres around how best to support young musical talent, and audiences of the future? How actively involved should great orchestras be in nurturing a love of classical music? And perhaps more fundamentally, what role does classical music play in a 21st century world?
Questions such as these have been hotly debated by Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) who in recent years have chosen to place education efforts at the very heart of their work. And so when eighty-four talented young musicians came together in August 2025 at the Akoesticum, Ede for a two-and-a-half week intensive music programme, audiences in the Netherlands and Germany had an opportunity to witness first-hand the difference specialist intervention can make.
The mission: Putting education front and centre
Headed up by education manager Lili Schutte and funded by an army of sponsors and patrons, Concertgebouw Orchestra YOUNG aims to showcase and give extra support to hidden musical talents (aged 14-17) from every corner of Europe, giving them the chance to develop at the highest possible level. It is part of an education package which aims to reach children of all ages. Initiatives such as the more traditional family concerts and work with local schools, sits alongside collaborations with online gaming giant Roblox: Final Score, a classical music game for 10-17 year-olds; and hot off the press, a special edition of the Donald Duck magazine featuring the Duckburg “Kwekgebouw Orchestra and it’s conductor Klaus Kwäkkelä”. At the pinnacle, the RCO Academy which for the past 25 years has “helped top European talent bridge the gap between conservatory and work in the profession”.
I joined Schutte and the team at the Akoesticum, Ede to find out more.
YOUNG is serious in its mission to break down barriers to progression in the classical music world. Originally inspired by NYO2, the brainchild of Sir Clive Gillinson (former London Symphony Orchestra cellist and currently executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall) which in turn was inspired by Gillinson’s time as a cellist in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, YOUNG, like it’s American counterpart, is completely free for all who are accepted. No financial barriers stand in their way. An amazing feat because as Schutte shares: “it’s a very expensive and well-thought through project.” Everything is funded by the generous support of individual donors, funds and corporate partners.
“In the early days, I met with Sarah Johnson (chief education officer at Carnegie Hall) and her team in New York to learn more about their selection process to ensure we selected and supported those in greatest need because,” as Schutte confirms, “inequality starts at a young age.”
The research
“We commissioned a report, establishing exactly where participants come from and the whole concept of hidden talent. When are you hidden? When are you diverse? What is diversity? It’s not just the colour of your skin. It’s also the proximity to high-quality teaching, the size and cost of musical instruments. Everything plays a part.
“Support from home is key. If just one parent is already in the profession, then playing a musical instrument, practising every day and attending ensembles is considered the norm. We learnt a lot from the study,” she says.
How does YOUNG find this hidden talent? “Students often find us via their music teachers, YOUNG alumni or on social media,” Schutte explains. “The application process gives students the opportunity to detail why they need extra help. We select roughly equal numbers of girls and boys.”
What makes YOUNG so special and different to other youth orchestras around the world?
Workshops with United World Colleges (UWC) mentors “makes YOUNG really special,” Schutte argues. “The young people discover who they really are. They get to know each other and celebrate their different backgrounds. For many, this may be their first time away from home, or their first time meeting other internationals of the same age. So we want to celebrate diversity in the world around us, but also for them to experience what it’s like to be excluded or included. Even at such a young age, they can make a difference.”
“We want them to be ambassadors for classical music, passing on their love of music to their peers and families. It’s about: who am I? What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? How can I learn? I am allowed to make mistakes. And if you end up outside your comfort zone, understanding the psychology and techniques to get yourself back on track. To know that classical music is not elitist, it’s fun! They are the voices who will spread this message.”
Stepping out of your comfort zone
I joined a UWC class where students refined presentation skills, useful for performances in chamber music concerts in hospitals later in the week. Skills they could transfer to all walks of life in the future. They played games to take them out of their comfort zone, discussed how they might want or hope an audience might feel after their performance, how to hold/stand when talking, and just the art of saying ‘Thank you!’.
“The trainers come from a completely non-musical world,” Schutte enthuses. “To help students widen their horizons, it’s important for them to know that these people exist. For some, they will learn this life-lesson immediately. For others, it may take longer. But listening to other’s views is a metaphor for working in an orchestra. Just as in society, every player is important.”
The rehearsals
The Akoesticum auditorium has become something of a friend this summer, but on this visit, I am struck by how colourful it all seems. Like the entrance hall and the lift outside, RCO welcome banners line the auditorium walls and stands, displaying the names of participating students. No expense spared yet all creating a very welcoming feel.
Mornings are a mixture of sectional and full rehearsals led by assistant conductor David Fernández Caravaca. I joined them as they read through Elgar’s Cello Concerto for the second time, in preparation for Julia Hagen’s arrival later in the week. This environment is obviously quite challenging for many whose first language may not be English, so instructions flit variously between Spanish, English, German and Italian.
Elim Chan will join on Thursday evening for three days of intensive rehearsals. No more swimming or cycling in the afternoons, or trips to see the world’s finest Vincent van Gogh collection up the road at the Kröller-Müller Museum. Just time for a stop-off at the Concertgebouw to attend an RCO rehearsal and have their picture taken with Klaus Mäkelä.
The key ingredient
Intense ensemble coaching and sectional rehearsals are YOUNG’s key ingredient, as was the case for Yuma Angius-Thomas, a young British percussionist from Haringey Youth Orchestra, London, UK. When he unexpectedly found himself struggling with an arrangement of Bernstein’s Jet Song from West Side Story which hadn’t been on the stand for sectional rehearsals with RCO percussionist Herman Rieken, whether scheduled or requested, help was on hand later in the week in the form of RCO timpanist Bart Jansen. Students are not left to fend for themselves. Expert guidance is always available.
He may even be talking about the famous Concertgebouw triangle
Similarly, RCO violinist Borika van den Booren was on hand to guide and select the two concertmasters. She gave guidance on basic things such as how to talk to the conductor and address the orchestra. Skills which may seem second nature to some, but not to all.
Belgian violinist Jana Mestdag who led the Shostakovich was a natural. Hailing from Belgium, a country with no national youth orchestra of its own, she had applied to YOUNG to gain valuable experience at the highest level before possible applications to Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra next year. Her two solos in the Shostakovich impressed, especially her second which grew in confidence. “I’m very excited and honoured to lead a symphony orchestra for the first time,” Mestdag said.
Schutte went further: “She’s keen and eager to learn. We look for those with the potential to grow.”
coaches the young double bass players
Life after Concertgebouw YOUNG
The question of effectiveness is always at the heart of such projects, especially when such huge amounts of money are at stake. Now in its fifth edition, YOUNG can start to see the fruits of its labour as alumni are found not only in national youth orchestras (including the Dutch National Youth Orchestra), but also in the European Youth Orchestra, Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra which specialise in the transition between music conservatory and the profession.
Two musicians from the first edition were accepted into the 2024-5 Academy programme – viola players, Francisca Galante Vaz (Portugal) and Felipe Manzano (Spain) – “which is already quite an achievement,” enthuses Schutte. “Many more applied, but competition for places is fierce. We try to stay in touch with as many as possible through our alumni programme. Roughly twenty are currently studying or have just graduated from conservatories in Amsterdam or Den Haag.”
Dutch National Youth Orchestra and studying music at Amsterdam Conservatory. Here receiving expert guidance from RCO tuba player Perry Hoogendijk
The concert
I joined the orchestra the following Monday for their concert in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw – the first of three concerts. The second, an open-air concert as part of the Amsterdam SAIL 2025 Festival followed by Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie later in the week.
The transformation in their sound was amazing! Elim Chan had worked wonders, bringing together a group of young musicians, many of whom had no previous orchestral experience, who now sat on the Concertgebouw stage, playing as one.
Conducting without a baton, Chan created a sense of urgency in the opening moments of Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. This was a mature interpretation, and in a different league to readings from similar orchestras with members of a similar age. A stunning first violin melody over desolate, chugging strings, answered ably by a viola soli. As Chan pushed towards an impressive climax, no enemy would dare breach this immense brass wall of sound. Those trombones and tuba had obviously spent hours watching many RCO Brass videos.
The young players still relied quite heavily on Chan’s direction, especially at the tricky corner between the seconds and violas to start the third movement. But as the harps beckoned us into a heavenly paradise, all relaxed. Cheeky violin glissandos shimmered, a lonesome oboe cried, and the clarinet pleaded for mercy. These stunning woodwind solos perhaps a great audition platform for Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra next summer.
Elim Chan – a fireball of energy!
At times, too much can be made of a conductor’s influence. However, Chan’s input was clear for all – she was a fireball of energy, anticipating every eventuality and creating room for the young people to shine. YOUNG were clearly very well-rehearsed. But more importantly, they were actively listening to each other – such an important tool for any orchestral musician and one in which the Concertgebouw orchestra itself excels. Amidst all the harsh brutality of the finale, everything was beautifully phrased.
And as the gong unleashed its terror, all hell let loose leaving a sole horn as the beacon of hope. Not just for Shostakovich’s music, but a plea to the great and good seated in the audience, to understand the value of music education in our modern age; to acknowledge that music changes people’s lives and is a force for good.
The legacy
Earlier in Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Julia Hagen’s youthful yearning for a world no longer there mirrored Elgar’s own sense of loss at the demise of his childhood world in the closing years of World War 1 as desolation and destruction lay all around. But I was reminded of the legendary British conductor Sir John Barbirolli’s association with this work and his significance tonight. As a teenager, Barbirolli had played in the work’s premiere, later becoming a key figure not only of British cultural life, but conducting and recording an iconic version of Elgar’s concerto with the young Jacqueline du Pré.
As the final cymbal crashed and yet another immense wall of sound burst forth, my eyes became misty as I wondered if any of tonight’s performers would follow in Barbirolli’s footsteps and have similarly illustrious careers.
In the words of Canadian tenor Lucas van Lierop who joined YOUNG on stage later in the week at Amsterdam’s SAIL 2025:
“If this is the future of music, we are in great hands!”
Ones to watch…
Head over to the Concertgebouw Orkest YOUNG 2025 Instagram page where you can find out more about all the young participants and their activities
Links to the programmes
Read more from Clare
Clare attended the concert given at the Concertgebouw on Monday 18th August, 2025
All photos by kind permission of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and © Milagro Elstak
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