The sound of the Baltic Sea has been heard since 1994 on the Isle of Usedom. Every year in the late summer, the Usedom Music Festival devotes itself to the cultural region around the Baltic Sea on Germany‘s easternmost island shared by Poland and Germany.

Thus, it has presented the musical life of Poland, the Baltic States, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the former state of Prussia. Great conductors and orchestras such as Kurt Masur, Neeme Järvi and Kristjan Järvi with the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic, Paavo Järvi with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Krzysztof Penderecki with Sinfonia Varsovia and Esa-Pekka Salonen as well as Mstislav Rostropovich, Gidon Kremer, Olli Mustonen, Nina Stemme, Bo Skovhus enthralled their audiences and made the whole Isle of Usedom ring.

The Peenemünde Concerts, frequently featuring the NDR Symphony Orchestra, are among the highlights of the more than 40 events presented by the festival each year. They take place in the old Power Station at the former WWII military testing site of Peenemünde. The Emperor Sea Side Re- sorts Concerts in Bansin, Ahlbeck and Heringsdorf invite to experience the mu- sic of the Baltic Sea in a triad of architecture, history and one of Europe‘s longest sand beaches. The programmes of the Usedom Music Festival cover a wide range of classical music spiced up with jazz and popular music. From September 19 to October 10 the music life of Finland will be the focus of the Festival.

Leading Young Talents at the Usedom Music Festival

From its founding on, the Usedom Music Festival has been offering a podium to leading young musicians. Young Concert Artists, New York, has been a long standing partner of the Festival. Right after the first season, Kurt Masur initiated the cooperation with the prestigious foundation. Since 1995, the winners of the final round in Leipzig and New York of this competition are regular guests on the Isle of Usedom. An elite project of the Festival is the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic – the sound and face of the Baltic Sea.

Young musicians, aged between 18 and 30 and coming from all countries around the Baltic Sea, form a unique orchestra that bears the marks both of a shared tradition and a wide variety of national characteristics. The instrumentalists are chosen anew each year from all the Baltic Sea states. Together with the Founding Conductor and Music Director Kristjan Järvi – who is supported by a top-class Artistic Council including Kurt Masur, Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Marek Janowski and Mariss Jansons – they rehearse a constantly expanding repertoire, which the orchestra then takes on tour. The Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic is a joint initiative of the Usedom Music Festival and Nord Stream AG. Since 2013, the orchestra is funded by the Baltic Sea Music Education Foundation.