Orchestra Română de Tineret / Cristian Mandeal

There are countries whose best-known symphony orchestra is a youth orchestra. Venezuela and its Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar come to mind immediately. There is also no »grown-up« equivalent to the European Union Youth Orchestra. Another youth orchestra that, like its Venezuelan counterpart, comes from a less affluent, culturally overlooked country has recently been causing quite a sensation: the Orchestra Română de Tineret from Romania. Founded in 2008, the Romanian youth orchestra reached such a considerable quality within a very short time that it has recently conquered one renowned concert hall after another. The orchestra has performed at the »Young Euro Classic Festival« in the Konzerthaus Berlin as well as in the Berliner Philharmonie, and gave a celebrated performance in the Wiener Musikverein in October last year. In the latter concert, the musicians were dressed in the colours of their logo – red and white – and exuded a similar kind of joy to that of the Venezuelans as they played. And, when Romania took over the EU Presidency in January, Romania’s new flagship ensemble performed at the gala concert in Brussel’s prestigious BOZAR centre.