National Youth Orchestra of Germany and National Jazz Orchestra of Germany: “Feel the Jazz”
The National Youth Orchestra of Germany is the “godchild” of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Germany’s best young classical musicians between the ages of 14 and 24 will join forces with the National Jazz Orchestra of Germany to present jazz highlights by Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington and Wynton Marsalis. Darius Milhaud’s La Création du Monde and Sofia Gubaidulina’s Revue Music show that classical composers know how to swing, too. Libor Šíma, whose Sledgehammer reloaded will be premiered, and singer Malika Tirolien, who will present her Grow Suite as a special guest, also have jazz in their blood.
“In the context of jazz, ‘swing’ means coming together,” said Wynton Marsalis in 2010 on the occasion of the world premiere of his monumental Swing Symphony, a work commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation. What came together in this concert by the National Youth Orchestra of Germany and the National Jazz Orchestra of Germany, conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer at the Philharmonie was Germany’s leading youth orchestras, classical and jazz, and works that shed light on the interrelationships between the genres.
Duke Ellington’s Night Creatures, composed in 1955, breaks down the sonic boundaries between a classical orchestra and a big band. The composer played a key role in helping jazz make the transition from smoky clubs to the concert hall. Darius Milhaud’s ballet music La Création du monde, which is presented here in an arrangement by Fabia Mantwill, was inspired by a visit the French composer made to New York. Impressed by the jazz of Harlem, Milhaud wrote a creation story in which a blues theme evokes primeval chaos before the world awakens in an orchestral frenzy.
In Sofia Gubaidulina’s Revue Music, wistful string lines meet shrill bursts of sound and a laid-back groove. The result is an original collage with a distinctive style of its own, which as long as 50 years ago anticipated the – at times chaotic – rhythm of our lives today. Leonard Bernstein strikes a nostalgic note in his Three Dance Episodes from the musical On the Town. Sometimes melancholic, sometimes with a driving rhythm, they follow the shore leave of three sailors in New York.
Two contemporary works demonstrate that this dialogue between worlds also continues to bear fruit today. Libor Šíma, who himself straddles genres as a bassoonist and saxophonist, drew inspiration for Sledgehammer Reloaded from the “primal energy” of Peter Gabriel’s pop song of the same name. The grand finale is the Grow Suite by composer and singer Malika Tirolien – blending Caribbean musical culture, soul and hip-hop – in an orchestral arrangement by Stefan Behrisch. In the words of the arranger, it is an invitation to “enjoy the process of life” and to grow together.
© 2026 Deutscher Musikrat gGmbH, Bundesjugendorchester/Bundesjazzorchester, Stiftung Berliner Philharmoniker
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