The Bridges Chamber Orchestra
Since fall 2019, the Bridges Chamber Orchestra has brought freelance musicians and their instruments from the Orient and Occident, the Far East and Latin America together. The members carry an expertise European classical music, classical Arabic and Persian music, jazz, Eastern European folklore and contemporary music. Uniquely, the orchestra members compose and arrange much of the repertoire themselves and decide on the program selection in co-creative processes. In this way, the orchestra develops ideas for musical pieces that give voice to multiple identities and show how the diversity of different cultures can grow together without the individual having to forfeit his or her identity. In our transcultural pieces, culture, identity, and belonging present themselves socially and musically as a fluid, interlocking process. In this way, we shape a musical style that makes the diversity of German society audible and are thus pioneers of a new and contemporary transcultural soundscape that fits today's heterogeneous society.
The Bridges Chamber Orchestra received one of Germany's most prestigious cultural sponsorship awards in 2019 with "The Power of the Arts”, being recognized as a national project showcasing diversity and integration at its best. For their debut album "Identigration", released in co-production with hr2-kultur, the chamber orchestra received the German Record Critics' Award 2/2021 in the category Crossover Productions. The award illustrates the relevance of our sound and distinguishes our artistic work already with the first album.
The Bridges Chamber Orchestra and its members are in demand throughout Germany and Europe as experts in the development of a progressive, transcultural musical style.
In addition to our own compositions, we also commission compositions from composers of differing styles. Previous guest composers include: Majid Derakhshani, Jonas Krischke, Daniel Osorio, Khadicha Zeynalova.
The Bridges Chamber Orchestra collaborates with various guest conductors, including: Bar Avni, Leo Hussein, Gregor A. Mayrhofer, Corinna Niemeyer, Eva Pons, Harish Shankar, Nabil Shehata, Martin Wettges, Yalda Zamani.
