European Youth Music has a history spanning over 50 years with over 2,000 participants. We have a strong alumni global community, and in 2022, we celebrated our 50th anniversary by reuniting alumni for a special performance. Performers ranged from the early days when we were known as Anglo-German Music with Jeff Babb to more recent participants. We're proud of the international musical community we've created, which includes a few weddings among past participants! Join us in celebrating decades of music, memories, and friendship.
European Youth Music has a history spanning over 50 years with over 2,000 participants. We have a strong alumni global community, and in 2022, we celebrated our 50th anniversary by reuniting alumni for a special performance. Performers ranged from the early days when we were known as Anglo-German Music with Jeff Babb to more recent participants. We're proud of the international musical community we've created, which includes a few weddings among past participants! Join us in celebrating decades of music, memories, and friendship.
Hear from Craig, our Alumni Engagement Coordinator, about staying connected through our alumni network and supporting future generations of Music Week.
Help keep the music playing
SUPPORT THE NEXT MOVEMENT
Behind every rehearsal, every concert, and every young musician's journey is a community of supporters. Your donation helps us create unforgettable musical experiences and keep our courses accessible to talented young people across Europe.
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Help us keep the music alive.
The music lives on
INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION
Browse photographs, concert recordings and personal stories from alumni across the decades. From unforgettable performances to lifelong friendships, discover the moments that make European Youth Music so special.
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Read alumni reflections, revisit past Music Weeks and contribute your own memories to help preserve our shared history.
Let the music guide you
SELECT A NOTE TO FIND OUT MORE
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2026
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2012
Alistair
When I arrived in Oberwesel in 1985 for my first Anglo-German Youth Music Week, the course already had a rich history. Founded in the 1970s by the red-bearded Bavarian violinist Dirk Ellée and the musician, teacher and philosopher Jeff Babb, it was born only thirty years after the end of the Second World War. Their vision was simple: bring young musicians from Britain and Germany together with a shared purpose – to play and enjoy a wide variety of challenging music. I was the only English cellist and, while rehearsing Vaughan Williams and Hindemith, we found ourselves translating the English and German musical directions into Italian; music really was the common language.
Julia
'At breakfast, the demand for coffee increased. Nobody understood how the conductors still looked so happy - we were finding the music so challenging!'
'Our afternoon trip to Aachen was spent in the sun, visiting coffee shops and the Cathedral. In the evening, there was much chatter and laughter.
At the Chamber Music Concert, Andy the conductor started playing "Bohemian Rhapsody" on the piano to silence us, but we all started singing along.'
Kate
'My time at EYMW taught me that good quality music-making is primarily for enjoyment and enrichment. Once I entered the world of "Music College" I began to forget this and take myself too seriously; EYMW brought me joyfully back to reality.'
Udo Stampa
Udo Stampa played trombone in the very first EYMW (then known as the Anglo German Youth Music Week (AGYMW). Her story shows the importance of the course in building relationships between two countries formerly at war.
She attended the course in 1968 and 1972. The very first Anglo-German Music Week took place in surroundings with truly historical implications: Trent Park. During the Second World War it was a Prisoner of War camp for German officers, and was now being used as a meeting place for young musicians from the formerly hostile nations.
She was 14 year old those days, the baby of the course, and got lost right at the beginning.
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