The Penderecki European Music Centre launches youth orchestra

It brings together sixty-five of the most promising students of Polish music academies and calls itself the Santander Orchestra, its main sponsor being Bank Zachodni WBK, which is part of the Santander International Group.

U.S. conductor John Axelrod told Radio Poland after the first rehearsal that “these musicians have great curiosity and a desire to learn; they are like a sponge absorbing every piece of information.”

He also said that creating an orchestra from scratch is a unique experience:

“When you have a blank canvas, like being in a laboratory, you never quite know what the results will be but I tend to think of an orchestra a little bit the way Michelangelo looked at marble: he already saw the sculpture inside the marble.

“I’m certainly no Michelangelo but what I can already see is that the quality of these young musicians is going to create a lasting impression on Polish culture.”