BREMEN VISITING

The Bremen Youth Symphony Orchestra consists of eighty young musicians aged fourteen to twenty-two. The orchestra was founded by Heiner Buhlmann in 1980 at the Bremen Music School, which quickly grew from a relatively small ensemble into an orchestra of symphonic size. Since 2012, the Orchestra has been lead and conducted by Martin Lentz. Various projects bring to this ensemble the joy of playing that emanates from the youthful energy of its members. Every summer, the Orchestra holds a concert tour which compels the musicians to improve professionally and strengthen their mutual friendships. On tours, they perform together at concerts, work on programs at intensive rehearsals, spend free time together, attend soccer matches, and enjoy other activities. This togetherness is felt in their performance.

Martin Lentz, conductor, played cello and double bass in several youth orchestras before he began his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Weimar. He studied Conducting under Professor Frischmuth in the German city of Jena. Martin Lentz gained experience as a conductor at an early age and later took over the leadership of the Youth Chamber Orchestra of the Jena Music and Art School. He is a guest lecturer of several courses at Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland. Beginning in 2004, Martin Lentz has been working intensively with the Barenboim Foundation. His fondness of contemporary music has resulted in numerous national and world premieres, such as Siegfried Müller’s Concertino for Piano and Small Orchestra, Thilo Jaques’ Schwarz / Weiß, Matti Murto’s Violin Concerto, and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s The True and the False Unicorn. As a conductor, he is engaged in all genres, from opera to musical, from early music to cross-over.