The German National Youth orchestra is Germany’s youngest elite orchestra, for up-and-coming musicians between the ages of 14 and 19, and is the official partner orchestra of the Berlin Philharmonic. It was founded in 1969 by the German Music Council. The orchestra have already performed under the baton of conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Ingo Metzmacher and Kirill Petrenko. Soloists have been a.o. Christian Tetzlaff, Tabea Zimmermann, Sting and Peter Maffay. In 2018, Sir Simon Rattle became honorary conductor of the German National Youth Orchestra, something he is very passionate about: »I love this orchestra, You play wonderfully and you are our future. With the music in your hands, I am full of hope«.

Young musicians qualify for the German National Youth Orchestra after a successful audition. During the intensive rehearsal periods, they prepare challenging works, including contemporary compositions and world premières. Their tours have taken the orchestra all over Europe, to North and South America, Asia and Africa. They have taken part in historic events, such as the concert they gave in New York to mark the 50^th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift under the baton of Kurt Masur. They assisted with the founding of the Ukrainian National Youth Orchestra in Ukraine, used the »Embrace Our Rivers« project to draw attention to climate conditions in India and supported musical education projects in the South African township of Soweto. The highlight of 2020, a year marked by the pandemic, was a video production of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 7^th Symphony conducted by Paavo Järvi.

The orchestra is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Woman and Youth, as well as by DekaBank, Mercedes-Benz Group, GVL (German Collecting Society for Performing Rights), the city of Bonn, unisono (German Orchestra Union), the German National Youth Orchestra Foundation and numerous private donors.