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 at Musikverein in. A total of eighteen 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. Three countries withdrew from the 1998 contest; they were,, and.
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
Julian Rachlin was the host of the 1998 contest and performed during the interval.Results
Preliminary round
Broadcasters from eighteen countries took part in the preliminary round of the 1998 contest, of which eight qualified to the televised grand final. The official list of performers in the preliminary round is unknown. The following countries failed to qualify as noted in the booklet of the official compilation album.Final
Awards were given to the top three participants. 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.| Country | Broadcaster | Performer | Instrument | Piece | Composer | ||
| 1 | BBC | Adrian Spillett | Percussion | Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, 3rd Mov. | Joseph Schwantner | 3 | |
| 2 | YLE | Piano | Piano Concerto No. 2, 1st Mov. | Sergei Prokofiev | |||
| 3 | LTV | Lauma Skride | Piano | Piano Concerto No. 2, 3rd Mov. | Camille Saint-Saens | ||
| 4 | RTVSLO | Accordion | Concierto para bandoneon presto | Astor Piazzolla | |||
| 5 | STV | Cello | Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, adagio | Edward Elgar | |||
| 6 | ORF | Violin | Violin Concerto no. 5, 1st Mov. | Henri Vieuxtemps | 1 | ||
| 7 | HRT | Cello | Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, adagio | Edward Elgar | 2 | ||
| 8 | SVT | David Sjögren | Violin | Violin Concerto, 3rd Mov. | Peter Tchaikovsky |
Jury members
The jury members consisted of the following:- – Yehudi Menuhin
- – Vadim Brodski
- – Gérard Caussé
- – Friedrich Doligal
- – Jack Martin Händler
- – Nana Yashvili
- – Eric Kushner
- – Alexei Lyubimov
Broadcasting
EBU members from the following countries broadcast the final round. Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.| Country | Broadcaster | Channel | Commentator | |
 BelgiumN/A|Official albumEurovision Grand Prix For Young Musicians was the official compilation album of the ninth edition of the contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by the host broadcaster ORF shortly after the contest in June 1998. The album featured live recordings of the eight finalists. |