The GUSTAV MAHLER JUGENDORCHESTER (GMJO) was founded in Vienna in 1986/87 on the initiative of Claudio Abbado. Today it is regarded as the world’s leading youth orchestra and was awarded by the European Cultural Foundation in 2007.

Claudio Abbado, Summer 1999 with the GMJO © La Voz de Galicia / Auditorio de Galicia

As well as supporting young musicians and their work, Abbado was keen to encourage the music making of young Austrian musicians together with colleagues from the then socialist republics of Czechoslovakia and Hungary. As a consequence, the GMJO became the first international youth orchestra to hold open auditions in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc. In 1992, the GMJO opened up to musicians aged up to 26 from all over Europe. As the youth orchestra for the whole of Europe, it is under the patronage of the Council of Europe.

At the auditions that take place every year in over twenty-five European cities, an international jury selects candidates from more than 2500 applicants. Prominent orchestra musicians are members of this jury and also responsible for the preparation of the repertoire in the individual sections during the rehearsal periods of the orchestra.

The GMJO tour repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary music with the emphasis on the great symphonic works of the Romantic and late Romantic periods. Its high artistic level and international success have prompted many leading conductors and soloists to perform with the GMJO, such as Claudio Abbado, David Afkham, Herbert Blomstedt, Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun Chung, Teodor Currentzis, Sir Colin Davis, Peter Eötvös, Christoph Eschenbach, Iván Fischer, Daniele Gatti, Michael Gielen, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrůša, Neeme und Paavo Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Philippe Jordan, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Neville Marriner, Ingo Metzmacher, Kent Nagano, Václav Neumann, Jonathan Nott, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Thielemann, Lorenzo Viotti, and Franz Welser-Möst. Amongst the renowned soloists who have worked with the GMJO are Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Lisa Batiashvili, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Angela Denoke, Christian Gerhaher, Matthias Goerne, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Leonidas Kavakos, Evgenij Kissin, Christa Ludwig, Radu Lupu, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anne Sofie von Otter, Maxim Vengerov, and Frank Peter Zimmermann.

The GMJO is a regular guest at the most prestigious concert halls and festivals for many years, such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Philharmonie Berlin, the Teatro alla Scala di Milano, the Semperoper and the Kulturpalast Dresden,  the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Mozarteum Argentino in Buenos Aires, the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, the BBC Proms, and the Lucerne Festival. Since its founding years, the GMJO has a close collaboration with the Salzburg Festival.

Numerous former members of the GMJO are now members of leading European orchestras, many of them in principal positions. A partnership with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden was therefore agreed in 2012 and expanded in 2024 in cooperation with the Dresdner Philharmonie im Kulturpalast.

Since its foundation in 1986/87, the GUSTAV MAHLER JUGENDORCHESTER has received substantial support from the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport and from the cultural department of the City of Vienna.

The GUSTAV MAHLER JUGENDORCHESTER was appointed “Ambassador UNICEF Austria” in 2012, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.

Erste Group and Vienna Insurance Group – Main Sponsors of the GUSTAV MAHLER JUGENDORCHESTER.