Children and Youth Orchestra from Kosovo wins Grand Prix at international festival in Spain
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The children’s and youth orchestra “Amadeus” has achieved major success by winning first place and the Grand Prix at the international festival “Spring Symphonies 2026” in Spain.
The director of the “Amadeus” music school, the institution behind the orchestra, Hana Petrovci Fetahu, told KosovaPress that the moment of victory was highly emotional for the entire team.
“The moment of the award ceremony was truly a moment of pride, a wonderful emotion, an indescribable joy, first for the students and then for us as staff. At the beginning it was a bit of a ‘freezing moment’, because we did not know there would be a prize higher than first place. The award ceremony took place on stage, all orchestras were on stage, and initially two second prizes were announced, then the first prize was announced and we remained on stage without any award, which really froze our blood for a moment. But in the end, the main prize was announced and we were the only ones awarded the festival trophy; we received the Grand Prix and first place,” she said.
According to her, the Amadeus orchestra stood out due to its high level of preparation and a serious programme performed in a highly professional way by the students.
“What I believe really distinguished us and qualified us for this award was the composition of the orchestra, the formation we had. We were almost a symphonic formation; we are only missing a few instruments to fully become a symphonic orchestra. In addition to the formation, we were also distinguished by the very serious program that the Amadeus orchestra performed in this competition. We performed a very serious repertoire of world composers, and the students performed it in an extremely good way in technical, dynamic, rhythmic and all other artistic aspects. Honestly, we were extremely well prepared, and I think that made the difference and was the reason why we were awarded the Grand Prix and first place at this competition,” she said.
She also praised the key role of students aged 10–17, and their commitment ahead of the next festival in Prague.
“A very important and irreplaceable role is played by the students who are part of this youth orchestra, aged 10 to 17. It must always be emphasized, because their dedication and the work they do at home and then coming prepared to rehearsals has allowed them to progress a lot and perform at the level required by the conductor. After Spain, the orchestra already has two participations planned for 2026, two representations of Kosovo. The first was this one in Spain, and now we have on the agenda participation in the competition festival in Prague, Czech Republic, which will be held in mid-July 2026. Working with students of this age, from 10 to 17, is a challenge in itself. Working with such an age group, who play different instruments and are at different levels of musical education, is a challenge in itself,” she said.
But who makes up the “Amadeus” orchestra?
