In Slovenske Konjice, under the baton of Živa Ploj Peršuh, three musical worlds will intertwine: the Slovenian composer Matija Krečič with his new work Fast Break (2019), the Finnish bass guitarist and composer Lauri Porra with his virtuoso concerto Entropia (2015), and Beethoven's timeless Fifth Symphony. Porra, a great-grandson of Jean Sibelius and a member of Stratovarius, masterfully combines heavy metal and orchestral music.

The event in Konjice is therefore not just a concert, but the prelude to an international journey that will take young Slovenian musicians among the world's finest orchestras while helping to promote Slovenian creativity on a global scale.

The concert in Slovenske Konjice will be the first opportunity for Slovenian audiences to experience the programme with which the Slovenian Youth Orchestra will soon appear on one of the world's most prestigious stages for youth orchestras – the Young Euro Classic festival in Berlin. The festival is an international platform where youth symphony orchestras from all over the world perform every summer; it is regarded as the most important youth orchestra festival in the European classical tradition and gives young musicians the chance to perform before discerning Berlin audiences.

The fact that the programme from Konjice will also be heard on the stage of the Konzerthaus therefore confirms the quality and ambition of our national orchestral team.

*The tour is made possible with the support of the Young Euro Classic festival and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, and is co-organised and supported by the Slovenian Cultural Centre Berlin (SKICA Berlin) and the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Berlin.