ECHO – this is the name of the network set up by Europe's leading concert halls, a cooperation that aims to work on joint initiatives and a mutual exchange of ideas. Every year the 23 members nominate six outstanding young artists and send them off on a large-scale tour.
Each year the »Rising Stars« appear at the Elbphilharmonie in the space of a week. Since the 2021 candidates were unable to perform live in front of an audience because of coronavirus restrictions, now they finally get their chance – from a classical string quartet to a percussion duo.
Trailer
The Festival at a glance
In this edition, the six exciting up-and-coming stars will perform at the Elbphilharmonie from 23 to 28 January 2023.
The Artists
The ECHO halls at a glance
Alle Häuser auf einen Blick
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
Konzerthaus Dortmund
Sage Gateshead
Palau de la Música Catalana
Philharmonie de Paris
Musikverein Wien
Philharmonie Luxembourg
Auditorium – Orchestre National de Lyon
Barbican Centre London
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Lisbon
Casa da Música Porto
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam
ECHO Rising Stars, the journey continues! :by Andrew Manning, ECHO Secretary General in 2021
History and origins
It’s amazing to think what a long and illustrious history the ECHO Rising Stars series has already had. I’m always proud when the founding Directors of the ECHO network remind me that supporting young emerging artists was one of their first actions, starting Rising Stars in the early days of the network in the 1990s.
Nurturing emerging talent is as vital today as it always was. For halls and audiences the energies, and creative impulses, combined with world class talent that these young artists bring are always such a rich discovery. The industry has certainly changed, but the early stages of an international career in this wonderful – yet highly competitive sector – remain a high stakes moment.
Evolution of the ECHO Rising Stars series
We are pleased to have been able to keep the ECHO Rising Stars series moving and evolving. Even with an established series and concept nothing can – nor should it – stay static. Our member halls are constantly adapting their formats, approaches and activities with the Rising Stars, always going the extra mile to make exceptional experiences for the artists to perform, engage, inspire and learn.
Each artist also gets a new piece, written especially for them and premiered during their season as an ECHO Rising Star. This season commissions have been to a great range of composers including Misato Mochizuki, Charlotte Bray and Vasco Mendonça. For an artist to have a piece written especially for them and then to develop performance experience of the piece, giving many national premieres in some of the world’s best acoustics, is something we are so thrilled to be able to facilitate. Following this experience we find that the piece usually enters the repertoire of the artists as they go forwards with their career.
We also offer training and support in the field of education, learning and participation and are working towards the goal of each artist contributing to and experiencing this work in each ECHO venues they visit.
The series also has an accompanying programme of professional development and mentoring for the artists. This provides an opportunity to foster sense of community as a group of artists, and to explore with this peer group their visions for the future of classical music. Together with experts from the sector we offer sessions exploring topics as far ranging as mental and physical health of musicians, resilience, social impact, the political dimension to music, and communication skills.
