Bavarian Summer Festivals Part 2: Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt, a central Bavarian city on the Danube was settled around 800, with plenty of medieval flavor left. These days, it is also known as the headquarters of Audi, and roughly one third of the town’s residents work for the large automobile manufacturer






The YO arrives early for an acoustic rehearsal and a few even test the acoustic effects of the nearby Danube River park.







The Youth Orchestra concert is presented as part of the Audi Summer Concert Series. The crowd is, again, a wonderfully young one, with many children and families in attendance this Sunday evening. Special discounted tickets were made available to Ingolstadt’s schoolchildren and once word spread among the schoolchildren, the concert quickly sold out the Theater Ingolstadt, with a capacity of 1200.



The youth of Ingolstadt is keenly interested in seeing what their counterparts from San Francisco have in store. This young crowd looks remarkably like a San Francisco Symphony Music for Families concert, with many children and young people, perhaps getting their first taste of classical music.



The youthful musicians from Bay Area did not disappoint their German counterparts, who cheered wildly, at an almost deafening volume, as the YO delivered another solid performance and three encores. Another 1200 now fans of classical music, and surely fans of the SFSYO !



A review in the July 8 Donaukurier summed up this successful evening with high praise:

“This American Orchestra plays at a dizzyingly high level, one that, most likely, cannot be matched by another Youth Orchestra anywhere.”

Bravo YO !