# 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 (EBU) and host broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), musicians from eight countries participated in the televised final. Austria and broadcaster ORF previously hosted the contest at Musikverein in 1990. 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.
Slovakia made their début, while Croatia and Sweden returned to the contest. Three countries withdrew from the 1998 contest; they were Belgium, France, and Russia.
The non-qualified countries were Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. 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 following participants failed to qualify as noted in the booklet of the official compilation album.
* Cyprus – CyBC
* Estonia – ETV
* Germany – ZDF
* Greece – ERT
* Ireland – RTÉ
* Norway – NRK
* Poland – TVP
* Portugal – RTP
* Spain – TVE
* Switzerland – SRG SSR

### 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.
Participants and results :
| R/O | Country | Broadcaster | Performer(s) | Instrument | Piece(s) | Composer(s) | Pl. |
| 1 | United Kingdom | BBC | Adrian Spillett | Percussion | Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, 3rd Mov. | Joseph Schwantner | 3 |
| 2 | Finland | YLE | Kalle Toivio | Piano | Piano Concerto No. 2, 1st Mov. | Sergei Prokofiev | |
| 3 | Latvia | LTV | Lauma Skride | Piano | Piano Concerto No. 2, 3rd Mov. | Camille Saint-Saens | |
| 4 | Slovenia | RTVSLO | Borut Zagoranski | Accordion | Concierto para bandoneon presto | Astor Piazzolla | |
| 5 | Slovakia | STV | Michal Sťahel | Cello | Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, adagio | Edward Elgar | |
| 6 | Austria | ORF | Lidia Baich | Violin | Violin Concerto no. 5, 1st Mov. | Henri Vieuxtemps | 1 |
| 7 | Croatia | HRT | Monika Leskovar | Cello | Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, adagio | Edward Elgar | 2 |
| 8 | Sweden | SVT | David Sjögren | Violin | Violin Concerto, 3rd Mov. | Peter Tchaikovsky | |

## Jury members

The jury members consisted of the following:
* United States – Yehudi Menuhin (head)
* Ukraine – Vadim Brodski
* France – Gérard Caussé
* Unknown – Friedrich Doligal
* Slovakia – Jack Martin Händler
* Georgia – Nana Yashvili
* Unknown – Eric Kushner
* Russia – 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.

## Official album

Eurovision 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.