The Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra was a program of

Jeunesses Musicales International Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI) is the largest youth music non-governmental organisation in the world, created in Brussels, Belgium in 1945, with the mission to "enable young people to develop through music across all boundaries". JMI ha ...

. It was founded in 1949 by

Igor Markevitch Igor Borisovich Markevitch (russian: Игорь Борисович Маркевич, ''Igor Borisovich Markevich'', uk, Ігор Борисович Маркевич, ''Ihor Borysovych Markevych''; 27 July 1912 – 7 March 1983) was a Russian- ...

but its permanent structure dates back to 1970, when Gilles Lefebvre consolidated the world's first youth orchestra. During this period the orchestra had the residence in Canada, from 1988 to 2004 it moved to Berlin and actually its headquarters is in Spain with the support of Valencian region.

A look in the recent past

The Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra has had its headquarters in

Valencia, Spain Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also ...

since 2005, when maestro

Josep Vicent Josep Vicent is a Spanish conductor. Principal Conductor - Music Director with ADDA Simfònica of Spain. Artistic and General Director at ADDA Auditorium in the region of Valencia. Conducta regularly Orchestras like Rotterdam Philharmonic, London ...

became its Artistic Director and Principal Conductor. It is composed of 100 musicians from 40 countries and it has toured in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In Summer 2008 it travelled to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

where maestro

Franz Paul Decker Franz-Paul Decker (June 26, 1923 – May 19, 2014) was a German-born conductor. Life Decker was born in Cologne, Germany, where he studied at the Hochschule für Musik with Philip Jarnach and Eugen Papst. He made his conducting debut at the a ...

conducted. The World Orchestra started this new period in Valencia showing its artistic project to China to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of peace between China and Japan. The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

were next. The orchestra came back in the Winter of 2007 to the

Kurhaus (Scheveningen) The Kurhaus of Scheveningen, The Hague in the Netherlands is a hotel which has been called the Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus The Hague since October 2014. It is located in the main seaside resort area, near the beach. History The Kurhaus was bui ...

, the place where The World Orchestra was born. It has played in

and

(its previous administrative home) in the Winter of 2007 to perform in the

Berlin Philharmonie The Berliner Philharmonie () is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany, and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is on ...

. The World Orchestra has made performances in Spain. Apart from symphonic concerts in numerous concert halls as El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, Palau de la Música of Valencia, Teatro Monumental of Madrid or GREC Festival of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, the orchestra ran a Chamber Music festival, with concerts for

String Quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus * ''En ...

and

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Group. JMWO was also the resident orchestra of Nits de la Mediterrània Music festival and also was in charge of the music of the Opera ‘Puss in Boots’ (a co-production with

Teatro Real The Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace of Madrid, Royal Palace, and known colloquially as ''El Real'', it is considered the top institution of the performing a ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and Teatre

Liceu The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona. Founded in 1837 at another loca ...

of Barcelona). Some of JMWO musicians took part in the filming of new movie on Valencian composer

Martin y Soler Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

. One concert was for the finals of the 32nd America's Cup Competition. The World Orchestra joined forces with Orquesta de Valencia with almost 150 musicians on stage. Its concerts have been broadcast live in numerous TV programs and Radio stations and have been recorded for

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service know ...

, RTVV, RNE, and the EBO. During its tour in China the Valencian TV-RTVV made a documentary film called ''Sound for Peace''.

Repertoire

The repertoire of The World Orchestra under the baton of

included pieces by

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

, Markevitch, Bartók,

Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buen ...

, Turina, Adams, Mossolov,

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer ...

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

, Dvořák,

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed ''nuevo tango'', incorporating elements from ...

Ibert Jacques François Antoine Marie Ibert (15 August 1890 – 5 February 1962) was a French composer of classical music. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first ...

, Zheng Lu & Ma Hongye,

Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

, Gershwin,

Bernstein Bernstein is a common surname in the German language, meaning "amber" (literally "burn stone"). The name is used by both Germans and Jews, although it is most common among people of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. The German pronunciation is , but in E ...

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

, Martín y Soler, Falla, Stylianou and

Xavier Montsalvatge Xavier Montsalvatge i Bassols (; 11 March 1912 – 7 May 2002) was a Spanish composer and music critic. He was one of the most influential music figures in Catalan music during the latter half of the 20th century. Biography Life Montsalvatge ...

Guest Conductors and soloists

Numerous Guest Conductors and soloists joined the orchestra during this period such as

Mihaela Ursuleasa Mihaela Ursuleasa (27 September 1978 – 2 August 2012) was a Romanian concert pianist. In 1995, she won the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition. Biography Ursuleasa began playing the piano at the age of five under the tutelage of her ...

, Iván Martín, Yayoi Toda, Gwyneth Wentink, Yaron Traub, Mayte Martín, Roberto Balistreri,

Enric Martínez-Castignani Enric Martínez-Castignani (Barcelona, 1970) is an Italo-Spanish baritone who sings opera and lieder. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award.Classics', 31 December 2004 Biography Martínez-Castignani was born to a family from Senigallia, Ital ...

, Alina Pogostkina, Marisa Martins, Mª Luz Martínez or Miguel Zapater. Next Summer 2008 The World Orchestra will be joined by cellist Laurence Lesser, violinist Mitsuoko Usioda soprano Marianne Fiset and maestro

World premières

The Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra has premiered five pieces by new composers: ''Good News From Beijing'' by Zheng Lu & Ma Hongye, ''Pax Haganum'' by Joan Albert Amargós, ''Ketsana'' by Emmanuel Séjourné and the new piece specially written by Séjourné for the finals of the 32nd America's Cup. In Summer 2008 it will premiere the revised version of

José Evangelista José Evangelista (5 August 1943 – 10 January 2023) was a Spanish composer and music educator who was based in Montreal, Canada. He was professor of composition at the Université de Montréal from 1979 to 2009. A member of the Canadian Leagu ...

's ''O Bali'', Josep Vicent's composition Ouverture Release for percussion trio and orchestra and Andrés Valero's ''GP'', f-1.

UNESCO Artist for Peace

As UNESCO Artist for Peace its concerts are committed to peace, interculturality and cooperation between cultures. During the two first seasons held in Valencia The World Orchestra visited China to commemorate the Chinese-Japanese Peace Treaty. Besides numerous concerts for peace in Kurhaus (The Hague), The World Orchestra reinforced its engagement with peace travelling to Cyprus to play concerts for war refugees of the armed conflict between Israel and the Lebanon and performing in Barcelona's GREC Festival as a homage to those who lived the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War.

History

The World Orchestra came into being with the creation of a young orchestra for the Jeunesses Musicales International project. In the period 1949 to 1969, in the Netherlands, the violinist Arthur Grumiaux, Director of the Igor Markevitch Orchestra and other key musicians resolved, as part of the Jeunesses Musicales assemblies, to put together an international orchestra inspired in the vision of Sir Robert Mayer, creator of the orchestral concerts for children in the 1920s. It was in Canada in 1968 that Gilles Lefebvre proposed the transformation of this ‘orchestral conference’ into an ensemble that would develop under the wand of an experienced conductor. Lefebvre envisaged that such an ensemble would receive and continue the education of the best young musicians of the Jeunesses Musicales member countries. Right from its inception, this project in music education was noted for its rigour and professional quality. These standards have persisted to the present day and it has attained world recognition. Success has come quickly due to the high artistic quality; furthermore, the World Orchestra has become a symbol, through excellence in music, of solidarity and co-operation between the nations of the world. In 1986, the orchestra established its headquarters in Berlin and offered concerts in the name of peace on both sides of the infamous wall that divided the city. Since then, the World Orchestra has been registered as a harmonious association of musicians without frontiers. As recognition of its peace-building efforts, in 1996 the UNESCO granted it the distinction of ‘Artist for Peace’ with which it has travelled the world over. During the 1960s and 1970s, WOJM went on several tours to Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, the U.K., Japan, the U.S. and Switzerland under such outstanding masters as

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the foun ...

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of ...

and

Serge Baudo Serge Baudo (born 16 July 1927) is a French conductor, the son of the oboist Étienne Baudo. He is the nephew of the cellist Paul Tortelier. Baudo was conductor of the Orchestra of Radio Nice from 1959 to 1962. He then served as permanent conducto ...

. In the 1980s, Walter Weller, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Eduardo Mata, Jeffrey Tate, Vernon Handley, Charles Dutoit and Michel Tabachnik among many others directed the orchestra. That period saw the orchestra travelling to Germany, Hungary, France, Spain, the U.S., Canada, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Uruguay and Argentina. In the 1990s, the World Orchestra was to be seen in Germany, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Russia, Estonia, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Norway, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, France, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea, Switzerland, and Israel. In those years the baton was held by Kurt Masur, Franz-Paul Decker, Antonio Pappano, En Shao, Yuri Temirkanov and Kent Nagano and well known soloists as Bobby McFerrin or Yehudi Menuhin joined the orchestra. With the status of Artist for Peace, the World Orchestra performed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of State of Israel (1998), the 350th anniversary of the Peace of Westphalia (1998), and in the commemorative events marking the beginning of the Second World War in Warsaw (1999). In the year 2000, it toured south-eastern Europe (Slovenia, Croatia, former Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia).

External links

The World Orchestra official page
{{Authority control Youth orchestras Musical groups established in 1949 European youth orchestras 1949 establishments in Spain