Rehearsal with Leo Brouwer

The Youth Guitar Orchestra, or JGO, is guitar - ensemble - project sponsored by the state of Baden - Württemberg, Germany. Being an institution enabling talented young guitarists to to meet and to play together, the orchestra is supervised by the State Council of Music, while the German Organisation for Plucked Instruments (BDZ, Bund Deutscher Zupfmusiker) is in charge of musical training. The JGO was founded in1991 as the first orchestra of its type in Germany by the conductor Arnold Sesterheim, who has been its " spiritus rector " ever since. Most of the 25 - 30 young players have won prizes in musical competitions at various levels - from regional to federal competitions. Rehearsels take place several times throughout the year for week - long workshops under the supervision of the conductors Helmut Oesterreich and Christian Wernicke. The enthusiasm and endurance of the players is remarkable. Rehearsals of seven to nine hours a day are the rule. Some players even practise their individual parts during their lunch hour or late in the evening, in spite of various activities and parties taking place at night. The players then perform their pieces of work at concerts and sometimes in radio productions.

  Arnold Sesterheim

Since its foundation, the orchestra has developed an extensive repertoire with original works and transcriptions by John Jenkins, William Byrd, Francesco da Milano, Henry Purcell, J.S. Bach, Isaac Albeniz, Manuel de Falla, Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britten and others. Arrangements from jazz and pop music, such as Bob Marley and Henry Mancini, are favoured by the guitarists. Contemporary compositions are another focal point of the repertoire. A selection of these is played on the CDs of the JGO. Some of the pieces were especially composed for thie ensemble.

Highlights of the ensemble´s activities had been concert tours to Spain, Russia, Thailand and Laos and the Czech Republic and also to Australia, Singapore and the centralamerican countries Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. In 1996 the JGO took part in the European Musical Festival in Copenhagen. The group had worked together with Terry Riley, Leo Brouwer (TV- and broadcast-recordings), David Tanenbaum, Peppino D' Agostino, Gyan Riley, Due Boemi di Praga and others. Another concert tour to the EXPO 2000 in Hannover including concerts in diffrent German cities was the main task of the year 2000 and in 2002 the JGO was invited to the famous guitarfestival in Havanna, Cuba.

The JGO won the 1st prize at the first "German Orchestra Competition" in 1998, achieved the category " extraordinary success" in 2006. At the International Guitar Orchestra Competition in Rheine 2007 JGO got 2nd prize.

Helmut Oesterreich

He studied the guitar at the Academy of Music in Frankfurt with Prof. Heinz Teuchert (chamber music) and Prof. Michael Teuchert (artistic training in music). Since 1986 Helmut Oesterreich has been lecturing in guitar and educational methodology at the Frankfurt Academy of Music. He also teaches at the Youth School of Music in Heidelberg. In his solo concerts and performances of chamber music, he focusses on contemporary music for guitar. He has been awarded international prizes for his CD recordings. (NUNC, BAYER - RECORDS, CAD 800890, FOXFIRE, CAD 800875 and Ensemble NUNC, Signum, SIG X61 - 00) Since 1994 he has been a conductor of the Jugendgitarrenorchester of Baden - Württemberg. With his own Ensemble "GuitArt" he has won the fourth German orchestra competition in 1996. Frequently HOe is invited as guest conductor from ensembles such as Netherlands Gitaarorkest, EGTA-Guitarensemble and at guitar - festivals. 2003 - 2005 he was conductor of the "World Guitar Ensemble"

Christian Wernicke

Christian Wernicke, geboren 1976, studierte Gitarre bei Alvaro Pierri und Roberto Aussel sowie Dirigieren bei Reiner Schuhenn an der Musikhochschule Köln. Mit einem Stipendium der EU verbrachte er ein Studienjahr in Madrid, wo er u.a. das Gitarrenorchester des Real Conservatorio Superior gründete und leitete. Der Preisträger mehrerer nationaler und internationaler Wettbewerbe trat als Solist und Kammermusiker u.a. in der Frankfurter Alten Oper und im Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin auf, unternahm Konzertreisen u.a. nach Australien, Brasilien, Thailand, Russland, Spanien und Italien, und wirkte bei zahlreichen Fernseh-, Rundfunk- und CD-Produktionen mit. Im Jahr 2003 gewann er den wichtigsten nationalen Wettbewerb für junge Musiker, den Deutschen Musikwettbewerb, wurde in die Bundesauswahl Konzerte Junger Künstler aufgenommen und erhielt ein Stipendium vom Deutschen Musikrat. 2004 war Christian Wernicke Stipendiat der Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg und wurde von der Jungen Deutschen Philharmonie zu einer Deutschland/Italien-Tournée unter Adam Fischer engagiert, mit Auftritten u.a. in der Berliner und Kölner Philharmonie, der Hamburger Musikhalle und im Münchner Herkulessaal. Im gleichen Jahr gewann er den renommierten internationalen Open-Strings-Wettbewerb und wurde vom Goethe-Institut zu einer Konzertreise nach Chile eingeladen sowie 2005 vom Auswärtigen Amt zu Konzerten in Marokko verpflichtet. 2006 gastierte er auf zahlreichen internationalen Festivals, unter anderen beim Internationalen Gitarrenfestival in Arequipa, Peru. Seit 2007 ist Christian Wernicke im Auslandsprogramm des Goethe-Instituts und Dirigent des Jugend-Gitarrenorchester Baden-Württemberg sowie des Jugend-Gitarrenorchester Hessen.

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