The Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO) was founded in Vienna in 1986, on the initiative of its present musical director, Claudio Abbado. It is today regarded as the world's leading youth orchestra and is under the patronage of the European Council. Its high artistic level has prompted many leading conductors to perform with the GMJO, such as Claudio Abbado, Herbert Blomstedt, Pierre Boulez, Myung-Whun Chung, Sir Colin Davis, Peter Eötvös, Ivan Fischer, Daniele Gatti, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Philippe Jordan, Ingo Metzmacher, Kent Nagano, Seiji Ozawa, and Franz Welser-Möst. Amongst the renowned soloists to have worked with the GMJO are Martha Argerich, Yuri Bashmet, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Matthias Goerne, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Leonidas Kavakos, Evgenij Kissin, Christa Ludwig, Radu Lupu, Yo-Yo Ma, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anne Sofie von Otter, Maxim Vengerov, and Frank-Peter Zimmermann. The GMJO has been a regular guest at the most renowned concert halls and festivals for years, such as the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Suntory Hall Tokyo, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris, the Mozarteum Argentino Buenos Aires, the Lucerne Festival, the Salzburg Festival and the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, and the BBC Proms. Many former members of the GMJO are now members of leading European orchestras, many of them in principal positions.