'Discover. Your Path.' - Summer 2025

The language of music unites people. And leads us, humanity, to new shores, tracks, and journeys every time. Discover. Your path. is the motto of the Western Balkans Youth Orchestra project in 2025. The aim of this year’s project is to bring young people from 14 European countries closer to this wonderful region through new, exciting musical and human paths in the Western Balkans.  

 

Collaborating and conveying their message with full strength requires a significant amount of effort from all parties. The WBYO and its director, Desar Sulejmani, a German pianist and conductor with Albanian roots, rely on colorful programs in which the music of their home countries is always integrated, as can be experienced this summer in several countries of the Western Balkans. 

 

The concert program carries the audience on a musical journey of discovery that spans different eras and styles, beginning with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. With the world premiere of Entropic Freedom by the young composer and percussionist Maximilian Kilchert, the WBYO is setting new artistic accents, which at the same time also represent a better understanding of the important role of peaceful coexistence in general.   

 

Before the break, the audience is taken into the fascinating sounds of Alexander Rimski-Korsakov, a notable Russian composer who impresses with his profound and emotionally charged compositions, followed by the passionate world of Georges Bizet's Carmen opera, which is characterized by energy, expressiveness, and passion.  

 

Afterwards, the audience is treated to the colorful and lively works of the Mexican composer Moncayo, adding a cheerful and dance-like note to the program. The Western Balkans Youth Orchestra concludes this year‘s concert programme with the famous Bacchanale from the opera Samson et Dalila by the other French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, whose works often offer a fascinating mixture of virtuosity, exotic melodies, and powerful rhythms.  

 

This program invites us all to follow our musical path and embark on a breathtaking journey of discovery, experiencing the diversity and beauty of the orchestral literature.  

Program

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) 

Overture of the opera The Magic Flute 

 

Maximilian Kilchert (*2003) 

Entropic Freedom (2025) 

 

Nikolai Andreevich Rimski-Korsakov (1844 – 1908) 

Cappricio Espagnol Op. 34 

 

 BREAK 

 

 Georges Bizet (1838 – 1875) 

Symphonic movements of the opera Carmen

 

Les Toréadores 

Prélude 

Aragonaise 

Intermezzo 

Habanera 

Chanson du Toréador 

La Garde Montante 

Dance Bohème  

 

José Pablo Moncayo Garcia (1912 – 1958) 

Huapango 

 

 Camille Saint-Saëns (1835 – 1921) 

Bacchanale from the opera Samson et Dalila  

 

 

Western Balkans Youth Orchestra 

Desar Sulejmani, Conductor

Concert Date Activity City 

24.07. - 03.08.2025 

Master classes and
orchestra rehearsals
Shkodra (AL)

04.08.2025

Orchestra Concert Shkodra (AL)

06.08.2025

Chamber Concert Ulqin (MNE)

07.08.2025

Orchestra Concert

Kotor (MNE)
09.08.2025 Orchestra Concert Prishtina (RKS)
10.08.2025 Orchestra Concert Skopje (NMK)
13.08.2025 Orchestra Concert Novi Sad (SRB)
Lecturers    

Önder Baloğlu 

Lecturer of the 1st Violins and Strings, Dortmund, Germany 

 

Bianca Adamek 

Lecturer of the 2nd Violins, Dortmund, Germany 

 

Boris Brezovac 

Lecturer of the Violas, Belgrade, Serbia 

 

Aleksandar Latković 

Lecturer of the Violoncellos, Belgrade, Serbia 

 

Gjorgji Cincievski 

Lecturer of the Double Basses, Skopje, North Macedonia 

 

Cem Önertürk 

Lecturer of the Woodwinds, Ankara, Türkiye 

 

David Bonet Piris 

Lecturer of the Brass, Barcelona, Spain 

 

Vera Seedorf 

Lecturer of Percussion, Essen, Germany 

 

Samia Bousbaïne 

Lecturer of the Harp, Brussels, Belgium 

 

Dinka  Migić-Vlatković

Psychotherapist & Mental Coach, Croatia / Austria

 

Desar Sulejmani 

Artistic Director & Conductor, Essen Germany 

Orchestra lineup 

 

First Violins 

AYHAN, Furkan, Türkiye 

BILGET, Duygu Defne, Türkiye 

BONET MARTINEZ, Alba, Spain 

BUTARU, Sofia, Romania 

DEMIRTAŞ, Dide Naz, Türkiye 

ERYILMAZ, Eylül, Türkiye/Germany 

HATELLARi, Tedi, Albania 

JOVIKJ, Jana, North Macedonia 

NDREKA, Estera, Albania 

 

Second Violins 

ALAŞ, Serdar Burak, Türkiye 

ALKAN, Fatma Nur, Türkiye 

BAJRAMI, Aiola, Kosovo 

HOCHSTRAT, Laura Katharina, Germany 

KRTALIĆ, Ela, Bosnia and Herzegovina 

LILO, Koreta Faith, Albania 

MEYER, Eike Eamonn, Germany 

ÖZCANOĞULLARI, Gülbahar, Türkiye 

 

Violas 

BARAN, İrem, Türkiye 

BAYRAM, Irmak, Türkiye 

GENCAL, Talia Ashat, Türkiye 

KORUK, Özge, Türkiye 

POLAT, Suna, Türkiye 

UÇKUNER, Taha, Türkiye 

 

Violoncellos 

ÇAKAL, Efe Oğul, Türkiye 

CRNOJEVIĆ, Stefan, Serbia 

KARAHAN, Doğa, Türkiye 

LINNEMANN, Katharina, Germany 

MAVAŞOĞLU, Dora, Türkiye 

UYSAL, Erdem, Türkiye 

 

Double Basses 

PEŠUT, Mihailo, Montenegro/Italy 

TIRYAKI, Atilla Doruk, Türkiye 

VELJANOV, Jovan, North Macedonia 

YAMAN, Kemal Kaan, Türkiye 

 

Flutes 

GEROSKI, Nina, Serbia 

JANSEN, Amelie, Germany 

SINANI, Erika, Kosovo 

 

Oboes 

DESPIĆ, Sofija, Serbia 

KIESS, Elisa Katharina, Germany 

ORAL, Cenkay Başar, Türkiye 

 

Clarinets 

HASKIĆ, Adnan, Bosnia and Herzegovina 

OBERŞTERESCU-HARŞİAN, Vlad, Romania 

RUSKA, Mario, Greece/Netherlands 

 

Bassoons 

ENGLBRECHT, Moritz Jakob, Germany 

GÜNGÖR, Selin, Türkiye 

OGNJANOVSKI, Zlate, North Macedonia 

 

Horns 

AKBULUT, Çağan Kemal, Türkiye 

BERIŞÁ, Kağan, Türkiye 

BOLAT, Efe, Türkiye 

GERBESHI, Rrezart, Kosovo 

 

Trumpets 

DE NADAI, Fabrizio, Italy 

FEDERICI, Samuel, Italy 

SCARPINA, Simone, Italy 

 

Trombones 

DEMIREL, Bozok, Türkiye 

DINÇER, Gülnur Ada, Türkiye 

MOLINA, Christian Manuel Tomas, Spain/Netherlands 

 

Tuba 

GÖKER, Çinar, Türkiye 

 

Harp 

MARKOVIĆ, Olga, Serbia 

 

Percussion 

ÇANAKÇI, Ege, Türkiye 

DWORCZAK, Lennart, Germany 

HRISTOVSKA, Kalina, North Macedonia 

KILCHERT, Maximilian, Germany 

NECHITA, Ioan, Romania 

 

Artistic Director, Chief Conductor 

Desar Sulejmani, Germany