On July 1, Classical Bridge, a collaborative concert presented by IMK and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdW), took place at the historic Haydn Hall of Esterházy Palace in Eisenstadt, Austria. In the very hall associated with Joseph Haydn's long service to the Esterházy family, four young conductors connected with mdW—Sophia Khutsishvili, Tobias Treitner, Fabio Felsberger, and Ángela Valera-Casanova—took the podium with Hungary's Szolnok Symphony Orchestra. The occasion held particular significance for Treitner and Valera-Casanova, for whom the concert served as their official Diplomkonzert within mdW's conducting programme. By bringing advanced university training into a professional orchestral setting at one of Europe's historic concert venues, the event reflected the practical international performance opportunities at the heart of the IMK–mdW partnership.
The programme opened with Weber's Overture to Euryanthe, Op. 81, conducted by Sophia Khutsishvili, followed by Mozart's Symphony No. 39 under Tobias Treitner. Fabio Felsberger then led Mendelssohn's The Hebrides Overture, before Ángela Valera-Casanova concluded the programme with Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5, “Reformation.” With each conductor taking responsibility for a different work, the concert moved from Mozart's Classical language to the Romantic sound worlds of Weber and Mendelssohn, giving the young musicians an opportunity to demonstrate the artistic and technical skills they had developed through their studies in the context of a full professional concert.
What distinguished Classical Bridge was that it went beyond the framework of a conventional student concert, directly connecting higher musical education with an international professional stage. Working with the Szolnok Symphony Orchestra—whose history reaches back to 1927—and conducting in the celebrated Haydn Hall provided the participants with valuable experience at an important stage of their artistic development. Bringing together a historic European venue, a leading music university and a professional orchestra, the project embodied its title by creating a tangible bridge from education to the international stage. IMK continues to work with mdW to provide emerging musicians with opportunities to translate their academic training into professional performance experience.
