Just when the spring left the place to the summer and the first taste of heat would touch our skins and our heads would start fantasizing about holidays at the seaside, well then an appointment on the calendar remembered us of something even better occurring in Germany. The 56th edition of the Jugend Musiziert took place in Halle, from the 6th to the 12th June 2019. The national competitio together with Händel Musical Festival, made for this month this city the capital of music. In this historical landscape, full of ancient buildings and blooming parks and nature, almost 2900 young musicians participated in the federal music competition. Not only a national but also an international challenge, which hosted worldwide young players coming from the 35 German schools abroad.
“Jugend Musiziert” is a project created in the set of the ‘Deutsche Musikrat’ organisation and well addressed by its project manager, Mr. Edgar Auer that with this edition concluded his career with brilliant success.
This stunning manifestation developed itself in a week of wonderful events which involved a large variety of musical categories not forgetting any unusual or less famous instrument and embracing all the age categories. As a matter of fact, on Jugend Musiziert stage, age does not matter anymore because the talent and the majesty of these young people playing their instrument or singing demonstrate that determination and passion for music can make you extraordinary at whichever age.
To notice is also the space given to particular instruments which gives a plus to the competition and the possibility for musicians to express themselves, their identity and their culture. For example, in this national edition the categories “Bağlama Ensemble” and “Cymbalo” have had great affluence and through “Jugend Musiziert” have developed their astonishing virtuosity.
At the end of the contest, 27 juries awarded a first federal prize to 627 musicians, 777 received a second federal prize, and 892 received a third federal prize. The last three evenings of the week the Händel Great Hall hosted the three ‘prize winner concerts’. Just three evenings that collected all the musical genres and musical instruments conceivable, masterfully played by kids and young musicians. This is what people see from outside, but from inside the organisation there is so much more. An ecosystem founded on task allocation and cooperation between sectors. A team of 10 persons works all the year long to make this week possible and successful and the more this week comes closer, the more the number of co-workers grow.
An additional encomium should be made to this project because all of this work and efforts are made for youngsters and for their future in music. This is what moves all the members of this organisation, the belief of doing something good for the others, for the young people. This is also the reason why ‘Jugend Musiziert’ keeps going on, moving forward and growing in numbers. No problem will stop them and there is no difficulty they cannot be able to solve with their experience and their spirit of dedication. This is why the competition is an incredibly amazing and marvelous experience to live: whether as a musician, accompanist, parent, relative, friend, organizer or employee.
“Jugend Musiziert” 2020 edition is already in construction. This time the host city will be Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg. Move and improve is what ‘Jugend Musiziert’ does continuously and tirelessly during the years, adapting to modernity, to the changes in music and adjusting to the request and needs of young musicians. This is the focal point of this contest that makes it bigger and stronger every year. As a matter of fact, the most difficult task in music, mostly in the classical sector, is to change and adapt to the actual times and actual audiences, but this is not a problem for ‘Jugend Musiziert’ that has proved to be able to survive and to be excellent through many years. Well, after fifty years we can definitely say: ‘They know how to do it’.
