This was the 11th edition of our project. In 2023, the International Lutosławski Youth Orchestra orchestral workshops took place between August 20 and 25 at the Szczecin Philharmonic, which has been ILYO's home from the very beginning of the project. 220 young musicians from 21 countries, not only European ones, took part in online auditions. Musicians from Singapore, Venezuela, the United States, Canada and China also sent their applications. The composition of the orchestra was selected by the tutors of the individual instrumental sections: Ralph van Daal (woodwind instruments – Maastricht Conservatory), Lech Antonio Uszyński (violas – Royal Conservatoire The Hague) , Adrian Varela (violin – Philharmonia Orchestra), Maciej Młodawski (cello – NFM Wrocław Philharmonic), Bartek Miler (drums – Academy of Music in Poznań ), Tomasz Hajda (brass instruments – Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice) and Marek Romanowski (double bass – Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice).

The young musicians met for the first time on August 20 during sectionals, and the first tutti rehearsal began the next day. The conductor during the 11th edition of the ILYO orchestral workshops was Rune Bergmann, artistic director and chief conductor of the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra. Mateusz Żurawski – an excellent oboist and two-time participant of the ILYO project, this time played with our orchestra as a soloist. Mateusz Żurawski is an extremely active musician, developing both as a chamber musician (LutosAir Quintet, Reebeat Reed Quintet), a soloist (numerous performances with many orchestras in Poland) and an orchestral musician (he is an oboist soloist of the Szczecin Philharmonic Orchestra).

The young musicians worked on four extremely ambitious pieces that made up the program of the two final symphonic concerts crowning our orchestral workshops: Fanfare by Krzysztof Penderecki (piece for brass instruments only) , La Valse by Maurice Ravel, Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra in D Major by Richard Strauss and the extremely demanding Concerto for orchestra by Witold Lutosławski.

On August 24 the musicians of the International Lutosławski Youth Orchestra played them for the first time in the main hall of the National Forum of Music in Wrocław. It was ILYO's debut on this prestigious stage. The concert was another great success for the orchestra. The Wrocław audience rewarded our musicians with a long standing ovation, and the post-concert reviews were excellent. The orchestra sounded decisive and confident. One could say that it was "youth" only in name – because it equaled the level of some professional orchestras – wrote Joanna Kołodziejska in  Ruch Muzyczny – the oldest and most renowned Polish magazine devoted to classical music.

On August 25, as every year, the closing concert of the ILYO orchestral workshops took place in the golden hall of the Szczecin Philharmonic. Tickets had been sold out for a long time, so the standing ovation and enthusiastic reception by the audience made a huge impression on the musicians, the walls were literally shaking. The concert was broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Szczecin Philharmonic attracting a record breaking number of nearly 3,000 viewers.

As after each edition of ILYO, a short video documentary was created summarizing our unique orchestra workshops.

More details about the 11th edition of ILYO in 2023 can be found on the website ilyo2023.filharmonia.szczecin.pl