In 2017, the National Youth Orchestra of Germany accompanied the founding of the Youth Orchestra of Ukraine. With four concerts in Lviv, Kiev, Bonn and Berlin under the direction of Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv, young musicians from all over Ukraine and Germany came together for the first time. "I was looking forward to this day and could hardly believe that the dream would finally come true," admits Konstantin Tomnizkij, a 19-year-old cellist from Odessa. The dream was shared by 29 young Ukrainian musicians who were selected through an audition to participate in the Campus Project of Deutsche Welle and the Beethovenfest together with almost 40 members of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany. The invitation to Germany became the initial spark for the founding of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (YSOU), which was modelled on the National Youth Orchestra of Germany.
