LGT Young Soloists
"The LGT Young Soloists are clearly one of the finest youth orchestras in Europe", the renowned US journal Fanfare Magazine wrote in December 2017.
The award-winning young string ensemble is made up of highly gifted young soloists aged 12 to 23 and brings together musicians from more than 15 nations. Together, the members of the LGT Young Soloists have won more than 80 prizes in national and international competitions.
The year 2018 will take the LGT Young Soloists to Hong Kong, Singapore, Belgrade, Zurich, Munich, Düsseldorf and London, among other cities, as well as to the Dresden Music Festival for the first time. The month of August will also see their second period in Mattsee, Austria, where audiences will be able to hear them perform as orchestra-in-residence at numerous concerts and public rehearsals.
The highlights of the 2016–17 concert season included performances at the Rheingau Music Festival, the Tonhalle in Zurich, Victoria Hall in Singapore, the opening of the Liedwochen at Schloss Elmau with Juliane Banse and a tour of Israel and Germany. Furthermore, the LGT Young Soloists gave guest performances at the Shenzhen Concert Hall in China, at the Tainan Art Festival, aboard the MS Europa 2 as well as at leading concert halls around the world in major cities such as New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai, Moscow, Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tel Aviv.
As far as recordings are concerned, the LGT Young Soloists' third CD, Nordic Dream, has now been released. It is dedicated to works by Scandinavian composers, including several rarely played pieces that enhance the repertoire. The Swedish composer and double-bass player Jan Alm (* 1955) has also written a piece for double-bass solo and string orchestra for the LGT Young Soloists and this recording.
The previous album, Russian Soul, was praised by the renowned strings magazine The Strad: "The LGT Young Soloists are essentially a very high-class youth string orchestra … the soloists all share a richness of sound … .Clearly they take the 'soul' of 'Russian Soul' to heart (as it were)". The German journal das Orchester devoted a major article to the ensemble: "If you didn't know that young teenagers are playing here, you would think you were in the midst of a top ensemble."
Only two years after they were founded, the LGT Young Soloists were the world's first youth orchestra to record for RCA Red Seal, with the album Italian Journey, consisting of works by various, mostly Italian composers. The CD received outstanding reviews and was nominated for the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) . In February 2017 this was followed by a DVD on C Major, produced by Bernhard Fleischer Moving Images. In the spring of the same year, the LGT Young Soloists were the main protagonists in an hour-long broadcast U21-VERNETZT (on the channel BR-Klassik), which could be watched as a stream or as a delayed broadcast on the TV channels ARD-alpha and One.
Alexander Gilman and Marina Seltenreich's idea of uniting high class young soloists in one ensemble came to life in 2013 in partnership with LGT Private Banking. The concept is as simple as it is unique: exceptional young talents perform together with their peers as soloists within their own orchestra, accompanying each other and sharing their passion for music. This gives them the singular opportunity to perform regularly and gain experience as soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, building repertoire and developing their stage presence. Alexander Gilman's committed leadership and pedagogical skill has a lasting effect on the musical and personal development of the young musicians. The members of the dynamic ensemble share new stimuli and impulses, establishing international relationships and friendships. In addition, the musicians are also given the opportunity to play top-level instruments by masters such as Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù, which are generously provided by various sponsors.
Commitment to people in need is particularly dear to the young virtuosos, and they make regular appearances at charity concerts. As part of the campaign "Children Helping Children", the LGT Young Soloists have succeeded in raising considerable funds for children in need at various fundraising events.
Current as of April 2018
Go to lgtyoungsoloists.com
2016 ® ALEXANDER GILMAN