“Momentum is a fantastic initiative and I support it with all my strength! The new generations of musicians need to be supported in these difficult times because simply, they are our future, and we need a better future! Let’s take good care of them, let’s all support Momentum!”

“All the musicians of my generation were given so much moral support and important advice by our older colleagues. So many of these wise phrases could be life changing if you knew how to pay attention. But in a crisis like this, young musicians need more, and need it quickly and desperately. The opportunities invented in this wonderful scheme will hopefully be even more transformative and will provide a bridge over troubled waters for many magnificently gifted young artists. I’m thrilled to be part of it.”

“Barbara Hannigan’s initiative will, I have no doubt, give many talented young performers a real start. Everyone needs MOMENTUM in their lives and careers! We must all do what we can to support the next generation.”

“This is exactly how I got MY start, when Sir Simon Rattle gave me my first professional conducting opportunity.”

I really love the wonderful initiative called Momentum and am truly privileged to participate. In the difficult time of COVID-connected limitations our musical culture has been struggling with, the talented young artists suffer most. This is an amazing opportunity to support them meaningfully and enable them to learn. We will learn from them. The dialogue between all generations must not cease.

“Coming from a small beautiful city in the south of Spain was not the straightest way to start conducting. But on my path and conviction to learn, I met great and generous artists who helped me. It was the most inspirational and powerful way of finding out how to go on, how to continue in the most genuine way, developing my own path of learning. Ever since, I’m committed to the young generations of artists, always looking for the dialogue and common inspiration. And we need each other more than ever!”

“Momentum is exactly what the world of music needs right now - to support the young talent and keep them going so that our beloved art form and industry survives and thrives for years to come.”

"It takes trust and faith to bring in an unknown young conductor to a professional orchestra, but the exact first step that opens the door hopefully budding a new relationship with the orchestra. This visibility step is often the hardest to obtain in the early stages of an artist's journey. For that, I am eternally grateful to Karina Cannellakis for guiding me into the MOMENTUM scheme and to Barbara Hannigan for initiating the chain reaction with vigor and passion. To me, MOMENTUM is a symbol of unity, empathy, strength, and HOPE."

““I was thrilled to be invited by Daniel Harding to conduct the renowned Swedish Radio Choir in concert in the Berdwaldhallen in Stockholm. As someone making the transition from professional choral singer to conductor, this was a wonderful opportunity. It was a privilege to lead these superb singers in performance, under Daniel’s careful guidance.”

“Momentum’s geniality comes from its basic, yet primordial principle: intergenerational exchange of knowledge and support. There are so many amazing young musicians, who are not just incredibly talented, but most importantly, ready and eager to engage with the reality of professional musical life. This little push, in such a world situation as of today, is just what is needed. Thank you, Barbara Hannigan, for believing in young musicians like me. Thank you for your outstanding vision and example! A whole generation of musicians will be always eternally grateful.”

“I am absolutely delighted to be a part of Barbara Hannigan’s pioneering Momentum scheme. Practical experience plays a huge part in our development as musicians, something that, unfortunately, is often lacking nowadays. As a young conductor, working at close quarters with figures such as Sir Simon Rattle has been crucial in furthering my skills as a conductor, as well as learning from artists at the top of their fields. I look forward to many more inspiring experiences within this community of musicians that is as germane today as it is indispensable for the future.”

“ I wanted to say thank you again for the wonderful Momentum Project. It was an amazing week working with Francois-Xavier, with the plus that I had to step in for one of the concerts. That artists of your caliber take the time to help younger musicians gives me hope, things could someday change. I wish to take for example your Momentum for my weeks with the National Symphony in Argentina, to support some young assistant there.”

“This is the way to proceed!”

“The Momentum initiative is a great, important and needed thing right now. I’m happy to be on board my dear friend Barbara Hannigan’s great move, doing my part in supporting our younger generation!”

“I am proud to support this wonderful initiative. I will always feel grateful for the support I received as my career was developing. As a musician and now also as an administrator, transmission has been at the heart of my identity. Now more than ever, in these troubled times, there needs to be a bridge of solidarity between generations.”

“Es ist des Lernens kein Ende. Everyone benefits from more information and experience. Momentum is just the sort of thing we need to bring this to people's attention.”

“As a born and bred South Londoner who spent his teenage years queueing for the gallery at the Proms and getting cheap tickets for the LSO at the Barbican, the opportunity to work with two icons of my musical upbringing: Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO, is quite literally a dream come true. I’ve learnt so much this week and the generosity of spirit and encouragement of both Sir Simon and the orchestral members was as humbling as it was moving. I feel very very lucky and hope this scheme can go on to help many more young musicians like me!”

“The world of music is always evolving, and one consequence of the Covid time we are living through is the robbing of opportunities for the next generation of musicians. The collective clipping of wings of so many talented young Conductors is something I find particularly upsetting.
Therefore the support Momentum can offer these talented young people, by way of facilitating assistantships and the garnering of knowledge and experience, is one I wholeheartedly support.”

“So proud to be part of Momentum. We, the artists, have the moral duty to help the younger upcoming generations to be able to shine, especially in this difficult moment in history! I embrace this idea and initiative full-heartedly!”

“Explorers and their navigators have, since prehistoric times, relied upon knowing the precise point of where we are along with the knowledge of from where we have come, in order to effectively chart a way forward towards the unknown. In this way, “Momentum” addresses the need for this universal process by preparing those who will boldly lead the way forward, by tapping the very foundation of our cultural value system: the active passing of knowledge to new generations such that they might foment new perspectives. A timely program, specifically relevant to our actual, unsettled times which opens towards the next chapters of the 21c.”

“Conducting is an art that you must my learn by doing, and yet, no one will hire you unless you’ve done it: it’s a Catch-22! That’s why Momentum is such a ground-breaking and needed initiative. When an established conductor invites you to work with them, and beckons you to the podium of a major orchestra, even a few minutes can make all the difference in your confidence, the orchestra’s confidence in you, and in launching your career. My experience assisting Barbara Hannigan with the London Symphony Orchestra has reaped many benefits, and I’m so grateful to her for investing in me, and in the future of classical music.”

"It’s at this perhaps darkest point of our cultural history that we should set priorities right - the future belongs to the young! We - artists who have been privileged and lucky enough to establish ourselves professionally in corona-free times - have to extend our help to those younger ones who are coming to replace us sooner or later, and make sure they get a fair chance to express and prove themselves now, when a lot of the opportunities to do so have been cut short by the pandemic’s deteriorating influence on the cultural life across the globe. By giving only 15-20 minutes of orchestra time to our assistants (in case of assistant-conductors) on each project we aren’t losing nearly as much as they are gaining so let’s do it. Let’s convince more orchestras and opera companies to do it regularly! After all, the star of such a great artist as Leonard Bernstein (just to mention the most famous case) could shine brightly only after he replaced Bruno Walter at the podium of NYPO at the shortest possible notice ..."

“As one of the initiators of the National Master for Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague I have been introducing young conductors from all over the world to orchestras - wherever I go - since many years already , and I am delighted to participate in Momentum’s plan to help young conductors at the early start of their career whenever possible.
MOMENTUM: a wonderful chance for young conductors to experience music making with professional orchestras.”

“I believe that mentoring younger artists and nurturing tomorrow's talents should be a fundamental part of every professional musician: this is even more true during these challenging times, when performance opportunities are getting less frequent.
It is extremely important for emerging artists to get the right occasions to showcase their talent and potential, and I am very much looking forward to make music at the Opéra Royale de Wallonie-Liège.
My most heartfelt gratitude goes to Maestro Scappucci and Momentum for this great opportunity!”

“That was such a great honor, to be invited to work with François-Xavier Roth and with Orchestre National de Lille. It was a great possibility, to learn from the work of this great musicians. Many thanks to François-Xavier Roth and to Momentum for making it real!”

“Momentum was a very real glimmer of hope in the midst of what feels like an existential crisis for the classical music world. A week working closely with both a conductor and an orchestra that I greatly admire was pedagogically invaluable, and a welcome reminder that the arts are here to stay.”

“As a conductor, I think the experience of making music is an exchange of energy between me and the musicians, and then in turn with our audiences. I enjoy welcoming young conductors to attend my rehearsals, to be my "eyes and ears" in the concert hall, witnessing this moving energy. This is invaluable for me as a conductor and for them, as they build on their repertoire, experiencing the unique moment of rehearsal and strengthening their trust.
Now, more than ever, our young conductors need this encouragement.... and I need to give back everything that has been given to me. I wholeheartedly embrace the “Momentum” initiative, knowing that it will help establish the careers of these talented young musicians”

“I am pleased to share my gratitude to Momentum-Projekt, Barbara Hannigan and François-Xavier Roth, thanks to them the experience I had last week with the BRSO as Assistant of François-Xavier Roth was one of the most exciting and fascinating experiences of my life. One of the best orchestras in the world, assistant to one of the best conductors in the world with a programme of exquisite architectural-musical sophistication. I was definitely living one of the greatest dreams!

After that dark period caused by CODIV-19, there was gratitude in everyone's eyes that they could make music again. The orchestra radiated the joy of being able to perform Mozart's Symphonies Nos. 39 and 41 and Anton Webern's rarely played Op. 24. The joy was obviously shared by FXR after this very long period of enforced silence, and my joy was comparable to that of a child in a huge candy shop, surrounded by charming colours and exquisite flavours.

The Momentum Project is a path of light for young (and older) musicians who, in this time of dark silence, are looking to resonate the notes of their soul.

Thank you very much MOMENTUM!”

“t’s hard enough in normal times for young, brilliant artists to get a foot-hold in the profession: in this environment it’s nearly impossible. Momentum is a brilliant scheme I’m honoured to support, and it will allow this generation the opportunity to thrive.”

“The idea behind Momentum is unbelievably powerful because it is both simple and universal. Young musicians want to be heard by an audience and endorsed by their more experienced colleagues. I hope this will become THE new standard. I am extremely grateful to Barbara and the Gothenburg Symphony, and I cannot wait to pay it forward.”

“Getting to work with the National Symphony Orchestra of Argentina assisting Mariano Chiacchiarini has been an unforgettable and incredibly formative experience. I am truly grateful to Momentum for your help in making this happen, and for the invaluable and inspirational support you offer so many artists. It is experiences like these that are extremely pivotal in a young artist's career and at the same time hard to come across, so I truly cherish Momentum's generosity and vision.”