On the occasion of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 January to 30 June 2022, the Philharmonie de Paris brought together an orchestra of 120 young musicians from the 27 EU Member States, following the example of the “children’s orchestra” as part of the cultural democratisation project, Démos.

In 2010, the Cité de la musique – Philharmonie de Paris set up Démos, a musical and orchestral education outreach programme. It offers to teach classical music within an orchestra to children who for economic, geographic or social reasons, are rarely able to access this. Grouped into symphony orchestras, the children learn the joy of playing music together and are trusted to take care of an instrument for the duration of the project.

The creation of "ODE – Orchestre Démos Europe” reflects the desire to bring young people together at European level and have them share their values and enthusiasm with the people they meet to play music with. Each country is represented by two to six musicians aged 12 to17, selected by a network of partners on the basis of musical and social criteria similar to those of Démos.

After having worked on the concert programme in their respective countries, the young musicians met in Paris for the first time from 19 to 26 February 2022, hosted by the Philharmonie, where they followed an intensive rehearsal schedule. They were mentored by professional musicians and led by orchestral conductors Corinna Niemeyer and Aurélien Azan Zielinski. The week came to a close with a concert in the Grande salle Pierre Boulez, attended by representatives of the EU Member States and of the Commission and the Parliament.

The young musicians will meet again on May 6 in Strasbourg to renew the experience and prepare this second concert at the Palais de la Musique et des Congrès, celebrated on the occasion of the Europe Day. No less than 26 countries were involved again in this wonderful musical and human adventure. For the last piece on the programme, they will be joined by the Maîtrise of the Opéra national du Rhin.