Eurovision Young Musicians 1998


The Eurovision Young Musicians 1998 was the ninth edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians, held at Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria on 4 June 1998. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union and host broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk, musicians from eight countries participated in the televised final. Austria and broadcaster ORF previously hosted the contest in. A total of thirteen countries took part in the competition therefore a semi-final was held two days earlier. All participants performed a classical piece of their choice accompanied by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
made their début, while and returned to the contest. Seven countries withdrew from the 1998 contest; they were,,,,,, and. Germany’s withdrawal came as a particular surprise, as they had won the previous edition in 1996. The contest also saw the first withdrawal of the previous edition's host country, in this case 1996 hosts Portugal.
The non-qualified countries were,,, and. Lidia Baich of host country Austria won the contest, with Croatia and United Kingdom placing second and third respectively. Baich had represented Austria at the previous edition in 1996, placing second.

Location

The Konzerthaus, a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, was the host venue for the 1998 edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians. Opened in 1913, it is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both tradition and innovative musical styles.
The Konzerthaus has the Vienna Symphony, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Wiener Singakademie and the Klangforum Wien in residence. Several subscriptions also include concerts by the Vienna Philharmonic and other organizations.

Format

was the host of the 1998 contest and performed during the interval.

Results

Preliminary round

A total of thirteen countries took part in the preliminary round of the 1998 contest, of which eight qualified to the televised grand final. The following countries failed to qualify.
Awards were given to the top three countries. The table below highlights these using gold, silver, and bronze. The placing results of the remaining participants is unknown and never made public by the European Broadcasting Union.
DrawCountryPerformerInstrumentPieceResult
01Adrian SpillettPercussionConcerto for Percussion and Orchestra, mov. 3 by Joseph Schwantner3
02Kalle ToivioPianoConcerto for Piano and Orchestra, no. 2, 1st Mov. by Sergei Prokofiev-
03Lauma SkridePianoConcerto for Piano and Orchestra, no. 2, 3rd Mov. by Camille Saint-Saens-
04Borut ZagoranskiAccordionConcierto para bandoneon presto by Astor Piazzolla-
05Michal SťahelCelloConcerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, adagio by Edward Elgar-
06Lidia BaichViolinViolin Concerto no. 5, 1st Mov. by Henri Vieuxtemps1
07Monika LeskovarCelloConcerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, adagio by Edward Elgar2
08David SjögrenViolinViolin Concerto 3rd Mov. by Peter Tchaikovsky-

Jury members

The jury members consisted of the following:
EBU members from the following countries broadcast the final round. The Final was also broadcast in Germany and Switzerland.