SEYO Birmingham & London, 2018
In partnership with Sistema England, Sistema Europe’s annual summer residency took place in London and Birmingham in 2018.
SEYO18 featured 200 young musicians from across Europe, the inspiration of Sistema England’s Young Leaders Programme, guest artists Nicola Benedetti, Sascha Goetzel, Jessica Cottis and Jesus Uzcategui, and performances at London's Festival Hall and Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.
The fifth edition of the Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra (SEYO) brought over two hundred 10-21 year old musicians and 50 teachers from 20 Sistema and Sistema-inspired social action through music programmes in 15 countries to London and Birmingham, celebrating the power of music to unite nations, cultures and young people during challenging times for both the UK and Europe. A further 400 children from local projects (The Nucleo Project, In Harmony Telford and Sistema England Young Leaders) also joined SEYO18 to take part in mass performances at the closing concerts.
Watch clips from behind the scenes at SEYO18
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Performances at London’s iconic Festival Hall and Birmingham’s majestic Symphony Hall captured the unique spirit of the global Sistema movement while celebrating the legacy of Leonard Bernstein as part of Bernstein 100; a series of worldwide celebrations around what would have been the musician & humanitarian's 100th birthday. SEYO18 also championed contemporary composers, such as Errollyn Wallen and Wynton Marsalis, with star violinist Nicola Benedetti joining SEYO for a closing performance of the riveting final movement of Marsalis’ Violin Concerto, written specially for her.
The SEYO18 summer residency, hosted by Sistema England and Sistema Europe, was held at the new Royal Birmingham Conservatoire from the 18th-28th August, where the young musicians were guided by a team of exceptional international teachers and music directors from the Sistema Europe network, the Chineke! Orchestra and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Photos from SEYO18 in Birmingham & London
All photos c/o Ivan Gonzalez
Use the arrows to scan the gallery
Youth ownership was the overall theme of SEYO18, with young musicians exploring self-agency in and beyond music. A focus on teacher development also enabled 50 teachers to share and develop further expertise to apply in their own Sistema settings and a new Sistema England and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire teacher training fellowship for students took place throughout the residency.
The Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra was conducted by Sascha Goetzel (Austria), Jessica Cottis (UK / Australia), Jesus Uzcategui (Venezuela), Etienne Abelin (Superar Suisse and SEYO Co-Founder, Switzerland), Samuel Matus (Music Director at Turkey’s Music for Peace Foundation, Guatemala) and Juan Carlos Maggiorani (Artistic Director of Portugal’s Orchestra Geraçao, Venezuela).
Listen to some of the highlights of the Symphony Hall concert
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