LEIPZIG YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Germany)
Conductor: Ron-Dirk Entleutner
Programme:
Anton Bruckner (1824‒1896)
Selection of Graduales in arrangement for orchestra
Franz Schubert (1797‒1828)
Heilig, heilig, heilig (Sanctus from the German Mass, D. 872) in arrangement for orchestra
Franz Schubert
Symphony no. 7 (trad. No. 8) in B minor, D. 759 “Unfinished”
Jean Sibelius (1865‒1957)
Suite Karelia, Op. 11
Free addmission.
Founded in 1985, the Leipzig Youth Symphony Orchestra, made up of around 90 of the best pupils of the Johann Sebastian Bach School of Music, ranks among the best German youth orchestras. Already in the first year of its existence, it was awarded at the orchestral competition of German music schools. Since then, it has often performed in its hometown in the hall of the famous Gewandhaus, in the Congress Hall and in the church of St. Thomas. The tours took musicians (aged 14 to 20) across Europe, Israel, Ethiopia, Canada and the US.
With intense rehearsals, the orchestra has grown into a uniform and recognizable sound body. Many members of the famous Leipzig professional orchestras gained their first experience in the Leipzig Youth Orchestra. Members of the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Central German Radio Symphony Orchestra work intensively with it to support the development of young musicians. In the sixth and seventh competitions of German orchestras, the Leipzig Youth Orchestra under the direction of Ron-Dirk Entleutner received a federal award, thus confirming its high level.
Ron-Dirk Entleutner was born in 1976 in Leipzig and at the age of four was already involved in a music education program led by Kurt Masur. Between 1985 and 1994 he was a member of the Leipzig Boys’ Choir of St. Thomas and gained his first experience as a conductor in this famous institution. He studied conducting with Georg Christoph Biller and Gerd Bahner (singing with Dirk Schmidt) at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy College of Music in Leipzig. He trained in master classes with Max Frey, Eric Ericson, Helmut Rilling, Philip Ledger and Uwe Gronostay.
In 1994, he founded his first ensemble (Amici musicae), which performs throughout Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Hong Kong, the Azores and the United States. In 1998, Entleutner founded the New Leipzig Chamber Choir, and in 2000 the accompanying ensemble Capella accademia. He has performed as a guest conductor in Switzerland and South Africa. Since 2000, he has been the conductor and artistic director of the Leipzig Youth Symphony Orchestra; he also works as a vocal pedagogue at the Johann Sebastian Bach School of Music. Over the last decade, Ron-Dirk Entleutner has taken on important positions at Koblenz (professor and music director at the university there, manager of the local Youth Symphony Orchestra). As a guest lecturer, leader of choral workshops and interpretation courses, he is particularly active in the United States. Since 2015, he has also led the Saxon National Youth Assembly.
