WORLD PEACE PHILHARMONIC

Founded in 2016 by eminent German pianist and conductor Justus Frantz, inspired by his friends Leonard Bernstein and Yehudi Menuhin, and informed by his years as Special Envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Peace Philharmonic brings together Serbs and Slovenes, Syrians and Israelis, Russians and Ukrainians to create a peaceful coexistence using their common language - music.

Just now, when apocalyptic scenes are taking place in crises around the world, every peace symbol is vitally important and is welcomed by all nations and peoples. The World Peace Philharmonic is just such a symbol.

Frantz catapulted to fame after winning the prestigious ARD Competition in Germany in 1967. The 23-year-old was granted a scholarship to further his studies with legendary pianist Wilhelm Kempf, and in so doing be-came one of the youngest artists to achieve such a distinction from the German National Scholarship Foundation. In 1970 he debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic and Hebert von Karajan. Five years later he made his US debut with the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein, with whom he became lifelong friends. It was Bernstein’s dream of a young, international, multi-cultural, and above all professional orchestra that inspired Justus Frantz to found the Philharmonia of Nations in 1995, an ensemble which Frantz made into one of the best-sounding orchestras of the world and which he conducted on a state visit of the German Federal President to China in 1996. The World Peace Philharmonic is an outgrowth of his lifelong passions.

Justus Frantz also works regularly with renowned orchestras all over the world, such as the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, the Great Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the KwaZulu-Natal, Durban Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia and the Georgian Chamber Orchestra.

The World Peace Philharmonic is a unique, multicultural and multi-ethnic orchestra comprising the most talented musicians from all over the world. It is made homogenous by their shared love of music and a philosophy born from the desire to convey a message of peace in a world dominated by religious and armed conflicts.

justus frantz

FOUNDER and Chief Conductor

Pianist, Conductor, Festival Director, Educator, World Peace Ambassador and Cultural Icon Justus Frantz has spent a lifetime at the top echelons of the music world, delighting audiences with his brilliance, and using his influence, vision and prestige to both encourage extremely talented young people and champion the aims of peace among nations.

Frantz first came to public notice after winning the prestigious ARD Competition in Germany in 1967, a feat which enabled him to further his studies with legendary pianist Wilhelm Kempf. Soon after, he debuted with the Berlin Philharmonic and Herbert von Karajan. A few years later he made his US debut with the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Berstein, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship.

From there his career experienced a meteoric rise, and his list of collaborations became a virtual who’s who of the world of music. He has worked with most of the world‘s top orchestras, including the Vienna, Munich, Japan, Moscow, Osaka and Royal (London) Philharmonic Orchestras, the National Philharmonic Orchestras of Romania, Bulgaria, Armenia, Lithuania and China, the Orchestre de Paris, the Cleveland Orchestra, the London, Mariinsky (St Petersburg), Russian State Academic and Beijing Symphonies, the Radio Orchestras of RAI Turin, Korea, and the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, to name but a few.

In addition to von Karajan and Berstein, he was worked such luminaries as Valery Gergiev, Georg Solti, Yehudi Menuhin, Rudolf Kempe, Seiji Ozawa, Roger Norrington, Dmitri Kitajenko, Avids Jansons, Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, Wojcieck Raiski, Wolfgang Gönnenwein, Dennis Russell Davies, Vladimir Spivakov, Claus Peter Flor, Saulius Sondeckis, Lovro von Matacic, Bernhard Haitink, Jiri Belohlavek and Semyon Bychkov, among many others.

While still a young man, Frantz founded the Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festivals and nurtured both over years to become among the most important festivals in the world. He used his position to spot and nurture talent, discovering among others Midori, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin and pianist Evgeny Kissin, whose invitations to Schleswig-Holstein paved the way for the great careers of each which followed. In St. Petersburg he chose the unknown Anna Netrebko to sing Susanna in his production of The Marriage of Figaro.

Frantz is also the creator and godfather of the Rheingau Music Festival. He founded the Brahms Society in Schleswig-Holstein and the Mendelssohn Society in his hometown of Hamburg, where he has also supported the Hamburg Symphony for more than 30 years.

He re-organized the Hindemith Prize to promote modern music and young composers. He was instrumental in rennovating and re-opening the historic Royal Kurtheater in Bad Wildbad, providing the major venue in that city for the Rossini Festival.

At the same time these successes were mounting, he began to champion great music to the masses by hosting the top-ranked television show, „Achtung! Klassik“ on German Television, and is still well known in Germany for these ground-breaking shows.

But it is perhaps in his international vision that Justus Frantz has achieved the greatest influence and satisfaction in his extremely varied and productive life. Firmly established in his career and firmly on the world stage, he began to expand his vision to include cultural achievements and how they can bring a better understanding between peoples. Together with Valery Gergiev, Frantz organized the first great festival of Russian music in Hamburg, and the first great festival of New Music in the former Soviet Union. With Gergiev he founded the first great international youth orchestra, the German-Soviet Youth Orchestra (Deutsch-Sowjetische Junge Philharmonie).

He founded a charity named the „Friendship Bridge “ which supported projects in the former Soviet Union, namely in Russia and the Baltics, in Kaliningrad, St Petersburg, Moscow, Minsk, in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovinia, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Serbia. In total, his initiative was responsible for contributing more than 45 million Euros to these various projects.

In 1995 he founded the Philharmonie of the Nations, dedicated to the dream he shared with Bernstein of a young, international, multi-cultural, but above all professional orchstra. One of his first undertakings with this orchestra also built bridges, by conducting them on tour in China as part of a state visit with the German Federal President in 1996. Over the years, he built this ensemble into one of the most outstanding orchestras of the world.

After Beethoven’s ninth symphony was made a UNESCO world cultural treasure, Justuz Frantz conducted a festive performance of the work in Berlin with the Philharmonie of the Nations. He also conducted the Philharmonie of the Nations in a concert before Pope John Paul II.

In 2013 he was appointed the first German Christian chief conductor of the Israel Sinfonietta, and he immediately used the opportunity to build bridges with great festivals, new music and the joining of Muslims, Chrisians and Jews in a peace choir. This led in August 2014 to the founding of the World Peace Philharmonic, the culmination of his lifelong passions and vision of peace between peoples and nations.

In addition to his work as chief conductor of the World Peace Philharmonic, Justus Frantz also works regularly with renowned orchestras all over the world including the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, the Great Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and the China Philharmonic. Most recently he has appeared with the KwaZulu-Natal, Durban Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sinfonia Varsovia and the Georgian Chamber Orchestra. He is a permanent guest of „Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra“ in Rome. He is the Artistic Director of the „Negev Spring“ Festival in Israel.

Every July, Frantz hosts the annual "Finca Festival Frantz and Friends" at Spain's Gran Canaria Island on Monte Leon, a stone's throw from the world-famous dunes of Maspalomas. Musicians, artists and celebrities are invited to perform, talk and enjoy the incomparable atmosphere of creativity in Frantz's world of music and nature.

Justus Frantz has long been one of the world’s most respected musical figures and has enjoyed an exceptional career as an internationally successful pianist and conductor for more than forty years. His list of honours is numerous. He has won Bambi, Grammy and Golden Camera awards. He is an honorary citizen of Dubrovnik, the Canary Islands, Maspalomas and Bad Wörishofen. He has received medals of honour from Russia and Israel and the highest medals of honour from Germany, Spain and Lithuania.

PROGRAMME

29 December 2017           Jiangsu Province Soloists “Home”
30 December 2017           Brahms and more
31 December 2017           Viennese Classic (Wiener Klassik)
31 December 2017           Beethoven Ninth Symphony
1 January 2018                 Johann Strauss and Others

VENUE: Concert Hall of the Jiangsu Center for the Performing Arts, Nanjing China

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