Eurovision Young Musicians

Eurovision Young Musicians
Also known as	Eurovision Competition for Young Musicians
Genre	Music contest
Based on	BBC Young Musician
Presented by	List of presenters
Country of origin	List of countries
Original language	English
No. of episodes	21 contests
Production
Production locations	List of host cities
Running time	90 minutes (2010–12, 2018) 120 minutes (2014–2016, 2022–present)
Production company	European Broadcasting Union
Original release
Release	11 May 1982 (1982-05-11) – present
Related
Eurovision Young Dancers

Eurovision Young Musicians (French : L'Eurovision des Jeunes Musiciens), often shortened to EYM, or Young Musicians, is a biennial classical music competition for musicians aged between 12 and 21. It is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) between members of the union, who participate representing their countries. Some participating broadcasters hold national selections to choose its representative for the contest.

The first edition of Eurovision Young Musicians took place in Manchester, United Kingdom on 11 May 1982, with six countries taking part. The contest was won by Markus Pawlik representing West Germany, who played the piano. Austria is the most successful country in the contest, having won six times: in 1988, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2014, and 2024, and has hosted the contest a record six times. The twenty-first and most recent edition of this competition took place in Bodø, Norway on 17 August 2024 and was won by Leonhard Baumgartner, who played the violin for Austria.

Background and history

Main article: BBC Young Musician

The idea to organise a competition for young musicians was first examined by the EBU Expert Group for television music programmes in March 1980 during a meeting chaired by BBC's Humphrey Burton in Geneva, Switzerland. ^[1]

Eurovision Young Musicians, inspired by the success of BBC Young Musician, is a biennial competition organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for musicians that are 18 years old or younger. The BBC competition was established in 1978 by Burton, Walter Todds and Roy Tipping, former members of the BBC Television Music Department. ^[2] Michael Hext, a trombonist, was the inaugural winner that year. ^[3]

As a result of the success of the British competition, the Eurovision Young Musicians competition was initiated in 1982. ^[2] The first edition of Eurovision Young Musicians took place in Manchester, United Kingdom on 11 May 1982, with six countries taking part. ^[2] Some participating broadcasters held national heats in order to select its representative for the contest. Germany's Markus Pawlik won the contest, with France and Switzerland placing second and third respectively. ^[4] It was also notable that Germany won the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 just a few weeks earlier. ^[5] Three years later, the EBU decided to create a dance version based on this competition, which became Eurovision Young Dancers. That event took place in odd years, while Eurovision Young Musicians takes place in even years.

In 1986, due to the increasing number of participating broadcasters, a semi-final round was introduced at the competition, from which, according to the results of the jury's voting, five to eight of them progressed to the televised final. Following this, the competition did not undergo any major changes for a number of years. In 2006, the competition was one of the central events of the Year of Mozart and to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the pieces performed by the finalists were restricted to Mozart or pieces from his contemporaries. ^[6]

Between 2006 and 2012, the competition was the opening event of one of the largest festivals in Europe, Vienna Festival and was held on an open-air stage for the first time. The 2018 contest was hosted by the BBC in partnership and as a highlight of the annual Edinburgh International Festival. ^[7] The 2020 edition of the contest was scheduled to take place in Zagreb, Croatia on 21 June to coincide with World Music Day celebrations. The final of the contest would have taken place on an open-air stage in King Tomislav Square, ^[8] with the semi-finals held on 17 June in the Bers Hall of the Zagreb Academy of Music. ^[9] However, on 18 March 2020, it was announced that the event had been postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. ^[10] The future of the contest remained uncertain until 3 February 2022, when Norwegian broadcaster NRK confirmed, in an online article regarding its national selection Virtuos, that the upcoming edition would instead now be held in Montpellier, France in July. ^[11]

Format

The generic logo used for the 2012, 2014 and 2016 editions of the contest.

Each country is represented by one young talented musician that performs a piece of classical music of their choice accompanied by the local orchestra of the host broadcaster and a jury, composed of international experts, decides the top three participants. From 1986 to 2012 and again in 2018, a semi-final round took place a few days before the contest, and the jury decided as well which participants qualified for the final. ^[12]

A new feature added for the 2008 contest was the audience prize, with both the live audience at the venue and television viewers in the host country being able to vote by SMS to choose their favourite musician.

A new preliminary round took place in 2014, with the jury scoring each musician and performance, however all participants autmatically qualified for the final. The scores in this round were taken into consideration with those in the Grand Final to help the jury decide the three prize winners. ^{[13] [14]} The semi final elimination stage of the contest was expected to return in 2016. ^{[15] [16]} However the semi-finals were later removed due to the low number of participants that year. ^[17]

For a number of past contests (1992, 1994, 1998 and 2002), a compilation album was released by the host broadcaster and supported by an independent record label.

Participation

Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Young Musicians

Eligible participants include primarily active member broadcasters (as opposed to associate members) of the EBU. Active members are located in countries that fall within the European Broadcasting Area, or are member states of the Council of Europe. ^[18]

The European Broadcasting Area is defined by the International Telecommunication Union: ^[19]

The "European Broadcasting Area" is bounded on the west by the western boundary of Region 1, on the east by the meridian 40° East of Greenwich and on the south by the parallel 30° North so as to include the northern part of Saudi Arabia and that part of those countries bordering the Mediterranean within these limits. In addition, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and those parts of the territories of Iraq, Jordan, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey and Ukraine lying outside the above limits are included in the European Broadcasting Area. ^[a]

The western boundary of Region 1 is defined by a line running from the North Pole along meridian 10° West of Greenwich to its intersection with parallel 72° North; thence by great circle arc to the intersection of meridian 50° West and parallel 40° North; thence by great circle arc to the intersection of meridian 20° West and parallel 10° South; thence along meridian 20° West to the South Pole. ^[21]

Active members are broadcasting organisations whose transmissions are made available to at least 98% of households in their own country which are equipped to receive such transmissions. If an EBU active member broadcaster wishes to participate, it must fulfil conditions as laid down by the rules of the contest (of which a separate copy is drafted annually). ^[18]

Eligibility to participate is not determined by geographic inclusion within the continent of Europe, despite the "Euro" in "Eurovision" – nor does it have any relation to the European Union. Several countries geographically outside the boundaries of Europe have been represented: Israel, Cyprus, and Armenia, in Western Asia, since 1986, 1988, and 2012 respectively. In addition, several transcontinental countries with only part of their territory in Europe have competed: Russia, since 1994; and Georgia, since 2012.

Broadcasters from forty-two countries have participated in the Eurovision Young Musicians since it started in 1982. Of these, eleven have won the contest.

As of 2024, Eurovision Young Musicians has had the most "one-and-done" participants of any continuous Eurovision event that has run for more than two years, along with Eurovision Young Dancers. No fewer than eight countries have made only one appearance at the event prior to withdrawing (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, North Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro). Comparatively, there have been two (Serbia and Montenegro and Switzerland) for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and one (Morocco) for the flagship Eurovision Song Contest. It also has one case of a country withdrawing after winning the previous edition, which happened when Russia withdrew from the planned and later cancelled 2020 contest, along with 2022 where Russia was banned from entering); there was also one instance each at Eurovision Young Dancers (Ukraine withdrawing from the 2005 edition) and the Eurovision Song Contest (Israel withdrawing from the 1980 edition).

It was the first EBU event to include a large number of former Soviet states and Warsaw Pact member states, many of whom debuted in the Young Musicians prior to their Eurovision Song Contest debut (including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, North Macedonia, and Poland).

Participation since 1982:

  Entered at least once

  Never entered, although eligible to do so

  Competed as a part of another country (Yugoslavia), but never as a sovereignty

Year	Country making its début entry
1982	Austria France Germany Norway [b] Switzerland United Kingdom
1984	Finland [b] Netherlands
1986	Belgium Denmark [b] Ireland Israel Italy Sweden [b] Yugoslavia
1988	Cyprus Spain
1990	Greece Portugal [c]
1992	Hungary Poland
1994	Croatia Estonia Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Russia Slovenia
1998	Slovakia
2000	Czech Republic Turkey
2002	Romania
2006	Bulgaria Serbia and Montenegro
2008	Serbia Ukraine
2010	Belarus
2012	Armenia Bosnia and Herzegovina Georgia
2014	Malta Moldova
2016	San Marino
2018	Albania

Hosting

Most of the expense of the contest is covered by commercial sponsors, the host broadcaster, and contributions from the other participating broadcasters. The contest is considered to be a unique opportunity for promoting the host country as a tourist destination. The table below shows a list of cities and venues that have hosted the Eurovision Young Musicians, one or more times. Future venues are shown in italics. With 6 contests, Austria and its capital, Vienna have hosted the most contests. ^[23] It has also shared two venues with the Eurovision Song Contest (Edinburgh's Usher Hall, which hosted both the 1972 song contest and the 2018 Young Musicians; and Bergen's Grieg Hall, which hosted both the 1986 song contest and the 2000 Young Musicians).

Host cities of the Eurovision Young Musicians

A single contest

Multiple contests

No.	Country	City	Venue	Years
6	Austria	Vienna	Musikverein	1990
			Konzerthaus	1998
			Rathausplatz	2006 2008 2010 2012
3	Germany	Berlin	Konzerthaus	2002
		Cologne	Cologne Cathedral	2014 2016
2	Switzerland	Geneva	Victoria Hall	1984
		Lucerne	Culture and Congress Centre	2004
	United Kingdom	Manchester	Free Trade Hall	1982
		Edinburgh	Usher Hall	2018
	Norway	Bergen	Grieg Hall	2000
		Bodø	Stormen Concert Hall  [ no; nn ]	2024
1	Denmark	Copenhagen	Radiohuset	1986
	Netherlands	Amsterdam	Concertgebouw	1988
	Belgium	Brussels	Cirque Royal	1992
	Poland	Warsaw	Philharmonic Concert Hall	1994
	Portugal	Lisbon	Cultural Centre of Belém	1996
	France	Montpellier	The Corum	2022
	Armenia	Yerevan	TBA	2026 [24] [25]

Instruments and their first appearance

List contains only instruments played in the televised finals (preliminary rounds or semi finals are not included).

Lucie Horsch from the Netherlands played the recorder in 2014

Croatia's Marko Martinović played the Tamburica in 2016

Order	Instrument	First appearance	Country	First performer
1	Piano	1982	United Kingdom	Anna Markland
2	Clarinet	1982	France	Paul Meyer
3	Violin	1982	Norway	Atle Sponberg
4	Viola	1984	France	Sabine Toutain
5	Cello	1984	Switzerland	Martina Schuchen
6	Horn	1988	United Kingdom	David Pyatt
7	Accordion	1990	Belgium	Christophe Delporte
8	Harmonica	1992	Spain	Antonio Serrano
9	Trombone	1994	Switzerland	David Bruchez
10	Organ	1994	Denmark	Frederik Magle
11	Percussion	1998	United Kingdom	Adrian Spillett
12	Contrabass	2000	Hungary	Ödön Rácz
13	Trumpet	2000	France	David Guerrier
14	Harp	2000	Netherlands	Gwyneth Wentink
15	Saxophone	2004	Germany	Koryun Asatryan
16	Oboe	2006	Switzerland	Simone Sommerhalder
17	Flute	2006	Austria	Daniela Koch
18	Cimbalom	2012	Belarus	Alexandra Denisenya
19	Bassoon	2012	Czech Republic	Michaela Špačková
20	Kanun	2012	Armenia	Narek Kazazyan
21	Guitar	2014	Malta	Kurt Aquilina
22	Recorder	2014	Netherlands	Lucie Horsch
23	Double bass	2016	Austria	Dominik Wagner
24	Tamburica	2016	Croatia	Marko Martinović
25	Euphonium	2024	Switzerland	Valerian Alfaré

Winners

As of 2024, there have been twenty-one editions of the Eurovision Young Musicians competition, with each contest having one winner. ^[26] Austria is the only country to have ever scored a home victory, with violinist Lidia Baich winning the 1998 contest in Vienna. Austria is also one of only two countries to have hosted after winning the previous contest (as was the case in 1988 and 2006), alongside Poland, who hosted the 1994 contest after winning the 1992 edition. It is the only Eurovision event to date to have multiple instances of the same country winning that also won that year's Eurovision Song Contest (Germany won both events in 1982 and Austria won both in 2014), and the only instance of one country hosting multiple major Eurovision events in the same year (the United Kingdom, who hosted both the 1982 Song Contest and Young Musicians, thereby also making it the sole occasion where the same country not only won multiple Eurovision events in the same year, but did both in the same host country).

Winners by year

Year	Date	Host City	No.	Winner	Performer	Instrument	Piece
1982	11 May	Manchester	6	Germany	Markus Pawlik	Piano	Piano Concerto No. 1 by Felix Mendelssohn
1984	22 May	Geneva	7	Netherlands	Isabelle van Keulen	Violin	Violin Concerto No. 5 by Henri Vieuxtemps
1986	27 May	Copenhagen	15	France	Sandrine Lazarides	Piano	Piano Concerto E flat by Franz Liszt
1988	31 May	Amsterdam	16	Austria	Julian Rachlin	Violin	Violin Concerto No. 2 by Henryk Wieniawski
1990	29 May	Vienna	18	Netherlands	Niek van Oosterum  [ nl ]	Piano	Piano Concerto , 1st mov. by Edvard Grieg
1992	9 June	Brussels	18	Poland	Bartłomiej Nizioł	Violin	Violin Concerto by Johannes Brahms
1994	14 June	Warsaw	24	United Kingdom	Natalie Clein	Cello	Cello Concerto , 1st mov. by Edward Elgar
1996	12 June	Lisbon	22	Germany	Julia Fischer	Violin	Havanaise by Camille Saint-Saëns
1998	4 June	Vienna	18	Austria	Lidia Baich  [ de ]	Violin	Violin Concerto No. 5 , 1st mov. by Henri Vieuxtemps
2000	15 June	Bergen	24	Poland	Stanisław Drzewiecki	Piano	Piano Concerto No. 1 , 3rd mov. by Frederic Chopin
2002	19 June	Berlin	20	Austria	Dalibor Karvay	Violin	Carmen Fantasie by Franz Waxman
2004	27 May	Lucerne	17	Austria	Alexandra Soumm	Violin	Violin Concerto No. 1 , 1st mov. by Niccolò Paganini
2006	12 May	Vienna	18	Sweden	Andreas Brantelid	Cello	Violoncello Concerto, 1st mov. by Joseph Haydn
2008	9 May	Vienna	16	Greece	Dionysis Grammenos  [ el ]	Clarinet	Clarinet Concerto , 4th mov. by Jean Françaix
2010	14 May	Vienna	15	Slovenia	Eva Nina Kozmus	Flute	Flute Concerto , 3rd mov. by Jacques Ibert
2012	11 May	Vienna	14	Norway	Eivind Ringstad  [ no ]	Viola	Viola concerto , 2 and 3 mov. by Béla Bartók
2014	31 May	Cologne	14	Austria	Ziyu He	Violin	Violin Concerto No. 2 by Béla Bartók
2016	3 September	Cologne [27]	11	Poland	Łukasz Dyczko  [ pl ]	Saxophone	Rhapsody pour Saxophone alto by André Waignein
2018	23 August	Edinburgh	18	Russia	Ivan Bessonov	Piano	Piano Concerto No. 1 , 3rd mov. by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
2022	23 July	Montpellier	9	Czech Republic	Daniel Matejča	Violin	Violin Concerto No. 1 , 3rd and 4th mov. by Dmitri Shostakovich
2024	17 August	Bodø	11	Austria	Leonhard Baumgartner	Violin	Violin Concerto No. 5 , 1st mov. by Henri Vieuxtemps
2026		Yerevan	1 (so far)

By country

The table below shows the top-three placings from each contest, along with the years that a country won the contest.

Map showing each country's number of Young Musicians gold medal wins up to and including 2024. Czechia won instead of Italy.

Country				Total	Years won
Austria	6	2	1	9	1988 1998 2002 2004 2014 2024
Poland	3	0	0	3	1992 2000 2016
Germany	2	2	1	5	1982 1996
Netherlands	2	0	0	2	1984 1990
Norway	1	3	2	6	2012
Slovenia	1	2	1	4	2010
United Kingdom	1	1	2	4	1994
France	1	1	0	2	1986
Czech Republic	1	1	0	2	2022
Russia	1	0	4	5	2018
Sweden	1	1	1	3	2006
Greece	1	0	0	1	2008
Finland	0	3	1	4	—
Switzerland	0	1	1	2	—
Croatia	0	1	0	1	—
Latvia	0	1	0	1	—
Spain	0	1	0	1	—
Belgium	0	0	2	2	—
Armenia	0	0	1	1	—
Estonia	0	0	1	1	—
Hungary	0	0	1	1	—
Italy	0	0	1	1	—

By instrument

As of 2024, twenty-five instruments have appeared at least once in the televised finals (preliminary rounds or semi finals are not included). The following seven have been played by a winner at least once.

Instrument	Family	Total	Years won
Violin	Strings	10	1984 1988 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2014 2022 2024
Piano	Strings	5	1982 1986 1990 2000 2018
Cello	Strings	2	1994 2006
Clarinet	Woodwind	1	2008
Flute	Woodwind	1	2010
Viola	Strings	1	2012
Saxophone	Woodwind	1	2016

Presenters, conductors and orchestras

Violinist Julian Rachlin won the competition for Austria in 1988 and hosted in 1998.

Year	Presenter(s)	Conductor	Orchestra
1982	Humphrey Burton	Bryden Thomson	BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra
1984	Georges Kleinmann  [ fr ]	Horst Stein	Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
1986	Anette Faaborg  [ da ]	Hans Graf	Danish National Symphony Orchestra
1988	Martine Bijl  [ nl ]	Sergiu Comissiona	Radio Filharmonisch Orkest
1990	Gerhard Tötschinger	Pinchas Steinberg	Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
1992	Marie-Françoise Renson	Ronald Zollman	National Orchestra of Belgium
1994	Unknown	Kazimierz Kord	Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra
1996		Luis Izquierdo	Portuguese Symphony Orchestra  [ pt ]
1998	Julian Rachlin	Dennis Russell Davies	Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
2000	Arild Erikstad  [ no ]	Simone Young	Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
2002	Julia Fischer	Marek Janowski	Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
2004	Christian Arming	Christian Arming	Lucerne Symphony Orchestra
2006	Schallbert Gilet		Vienna Symphony
2008	Lidia Baich  [ de ] and Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz  [ de ]	Aleksandar Markovic
2010	Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz	Cornelius Meister
2012	Pia Strauss (semifinal) and Martin Grubinger (final)
2014	Sabine Heinrich	Kristiina Poska	WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne
2016	Tamina Kallert  [ de ] and Daniel Hope	Clemens Schuldt
2018	Petroc Trelawny with Josie d'Arby (final only)	Thomas Dausgaard	BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
2022	Judith Chaine and Vincent Delbushaye	Pierre Dumoussaud	Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier
2024	Silje Nordnes  [ no ] and Mona Berntsen	Eivind Aadland	Norwegian Radio Orchestra

See also

• BBC Young Musician
• Eurovision Young Dancers

Notes

1. The European Broadcasting Area was expanded in November 2007 by the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07), also to include Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. ^{[19] [20]}
2. The four Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden) originally sent a joint participant to the contest. In 1982, the musician represented the Norwegian colors and the Finnish colors in 1984. ^[22] The nations were represented individually, following the introduction of a preliminary round, at the 1986 contest.
3. Portuguese broadcaster Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (RTP) attempted to take part in 1986, but were forced to withdraw as it had been unable to provide a "qualified candidate". ^[22]

References

1. "Eurovision Young Musicians 1984". Issuu. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
2. "History. How it all started". British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
3. "BBC Four - BBC Young Musician - History". BBC. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
4. "Eurovision Young Musicians 1982 (Participants)". youngmusicians.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
5. "Eurovision Song Contest 1982". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
6. "Eurovision Young Musicians 2006: Participants". youngmusicians.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
7. "EBU partners with Edinburgh International Festival for Young Musicians". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
8. Zwart, Josianne (8 July 2019). "Eurovision Young Musicians heading to Zagreb in 2020". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
9. https://eurovoix.com/2020/03/11/hrt-confirms-semi-finals-for-eurovision-young-musicians-2020/
10. "Eurovision Young Musicians 2020 Has Been Postponed". eurovoix.com. 18 March 2020.
11. Granger, Anthony (3 February 2022). "Eurovision Young Musicians 2022 to be Held in 🇫🇷 Montpellier, France". eurovoix.com.
12. "All you need to know about Young Musicians 2012". Archived from the original on 2013-06-02. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
13. "Competition format | Eurovision Young Musicians - Cologne 2014". Archived from the original on 2014-05-23. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
14. "Steering Group meets in Cologne". Youngmusicians.tv. 24 February 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
15. "EYM'16: Return To "Elimination Semifinal"". Eurovoix.com. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
16. Granger, Anthony (11 November 2015). "EYM 16 semi final dates announced". eurovoix.com. Eurovoix. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
17. "11 countries ready for Young Musicians 2016". youngmusicians.tv. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
18. "Membership conditions". European Broadcasting Union . Retrieved 3 February 2012.
19. "ITU-R Radio Regulations 2012-2015" (PDF). International Telecommunication Union, available from the Spectrum Management Authority of Jamaica. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
20. "ITU-R Radio Regulations - Articles edition of 2004 (valid in 2004-2007)" (PDF). International Telecommunication Union. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-10. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
21. "Radio Regulations". International Telecommunication Union. 8 September 2005. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
22. "Eurovision Young Musicians 1986". Issuu. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
23. "Eurovision Young Musicians - History by year". youngmusicians.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
24. "Armenia to host Eurovision Young Musicians 2026 competition". Armenpress. Oct 21, 2024. Retrieved Oct 21, 2024.
25. "Armenia to host Eurovision Young Musicians 2026 competition" . Retrieved Oct 21, 2024.
26. "Eurovision Young Musicians - History by country". youngmusicians.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
27. "WDR and Cologne chosen to host 2016 competition". Youngmusicians.tv. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.

External links

• Official website
• Eurovision Young Musicians Archived 2018-06-21 at the Wayback Machine  – European Broadcasting Union