No Borders Orchestra
The No Borders Orchestra (NBO) is an ensemble of classical musicians from the former Yugoslavia . It was founded in 2012 and is conducted by Premil Petrović . The NBO aims to overcome nationalism , racism , xenophobia and homophobia through artistic class .
Historical background
The former Yugoslavia consisted of six republics and two autonomous regions. Within a decade after the death of long-time President Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), nationalist tensions rose sharply in this multicultural and multireligious state and culminated in the break-up of Yugoslavia, the outbreak of violence that followed, the Bosnian war and ethnic cleansing . Seven new states were founded, each with their own currency, army and border control. Slovenia and Croatia have since joined the European Union . Although Slovenia, Montenegro and Kosovo now use the euro as a means of payment, the borders are still closed, the restrictions against other states of the former Yugoslavia and the hostility still exist.
Manifesto
Prior to its foundation, the orchestra declared its intentions in a so-called manifesto :
“NBO is founded on two basic premises. The social aspect of the project is achieved by the deconstruction of stereotypes, overcoming of nationalism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, the gory legacy of the past and through the affirmation of cultural values that are in a complete state of disarray in local transitional societies. Being fully aware of the past, NBO is not a project nostalgic about ex-Yugoslavia. On the contrary, it is completely committed to the future. Nostalgia abolishes criticism and critical engagement is at the basis of our idea. The right to the future requires the courage to face all traumatic facts from the past. An honest dialogue about difficult responsibility issues dispels demons from the past and opens doors for possibilities that are yet to come.
From the artistic side, we wish to create a symphonic orchestra where all members will have the motivation, engagement and energy of a chamber orchestra and will breathe like a big chamber ensemble. NBO is an ensemble of soloists. We are asking questions and with our performances we offer some answers: Why a symphony orchestra in 21st century? Why classical music at all? How can music become relevant again? How can music become a way of life again? What can be done with the ritual of classical concert, which hasn't changed since the 19th century? How can classical music stop being a museum exhibit? How can the relation between the audience and musicians be changed? Why does no alternative scene of classical music exist? What does it mean: to listen? What are our expectations and valuations based on while listening? How can we open up for something different? How can we play and listen freely? "
The founders of the NBO further state that the main concern of the orchestra, the connection between music and life, that they are influenced by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) and its founder Daniel Barenboim , and that they want to avoid their artistic class being Self-staging serves and leads to (voluntary) exclusion from society.
Goals and Motives
The No Borders Orchestra has set a long-term line; Every year the orchestra wants to play a new program at various festivals on the Balkan Peninsula and in Europe .
Start and international recognition
Although the originally planned start of the orchestra in 2011 with Mahler's Symphony No. 2 could not be realized due to a lack of financial means, the project still had an impressive start. The NBO recruited around 50 musicians from almost all the music centers of the former Yugoslavia - Belgrade , Ljubljana , Zagreb , Sarajevo , Skopje , Pristina and Novi Sad . They were trained by well-known musicians from some German orchestras, for example musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic or the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne .
The orchestra is funded by the European Festival Association (EFA).
2012
On October 9, 2012, the NBO had its first appearance in Kanjiža in the Banat . The region is known for its diversity in population, language and culture. The selection of the program was also symbolic - Sergei Prokofiev's 1st Symphony , Charles Ives The Unanswered Question and Zoltán Kodály's Dances from Galanta .
Two days later the orchestra opened the Belgrade Music Festival (BEMUS) with the same program, supplemented by Beethoven's 5th piano concerto with Hinrich Alpers as soloist. The audience and critics were impressed. The new orchestra played as if it had existed for years: “ On a specially arranged stage, in a whirlpool of electricity, in the audience vibrating with different generations and sensibilities, gathered for the event as if from an unknown planet and deeply immerged in expecting miracles of sounds, we finally met the No Borders Orchestra ”, wrote Zorica Kojić in the Belgrade daily Danas .
2013
The orchestra played for the first time in 2013 on March 16 in the Novi Sad synagogue . It did Isidora Žebeljans The Horses of Saint Mark , Isaac Albéniz Iberia with Edin Karamzov as a soloist on guitar and again Zoltán Kodály Dances of Galanta . The next day the same program was repeated in Belgrade. In August of that year the orchestra toured the former Yugoslavia and played at various festivals, among others. a. in Kotor and Herceg Novi (both Montenegro), in Trebinje ( Bosnia and Herzegovina ) and in Ljubljana ( Serbia ). As a soloist for the work Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo , the guitarist played Edin Karamazov . Stanko Madic, the orchestra's 1st violinist, described the performance in Trebinje as follows:
“In an environment that is extremely nationalistic, we were greeted with significant distrust since we have several Albanian musicians from Kosovo. But at the end of the concert, the audience reacted with standing ovations. They did not only accept the Albanians who were playing in their city, but numerous people at the city square also listened very carefully to the demanding classical music program in a city where no symphony orchestra has performed before. "
In October of the same year the NBO played Franz Schubert's Symphony in E major (Schubert) (the 7th symphony) , Richard Wagner's Siegfried Idyll and again Kodály's Dances from Galanta in Mother Teresa Cathedral in Pristina . Ten days later the orchestra performed for the first time outside the Balkan Peninsula ; in Radialsystem V in Berlin , with the works of Žebeljan, Wagner, Kodály and Lera Auerbach's Sogno di Stabat Mater .
2014
In 2014 the NBO played Giuseppe Verdi's opera Macbeth in a new production by Brett Bailey , together with a South African choir. The premiere was on May 13th in Brussels during the KunstenFESTIVALdesArts - a theater festival in the KVS Theater. It then played the opera at other festivals in Europe - in Rotterdam , Vienna , Montpellier , Braunschweig , London , Lisbon , Girona , Tarbes , Toulouse , Strasbourg and Paris .
2015
In 2015 the NBO plays Gustav Mahler's 2nd Symphony in Srebrenica . This symphony is also known as the 'Resurrection Symphony' and is intended to commemorate the genocide in Srebrenica 20 years ago.
Web links
- No Borders Orchestra website
- Flash Mob - The NBO surprises the people of Ljubljana with an unexpected performance, August 21, 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manifesto. No Borders Orchestra
- ↑ No Borders Orchestra ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) project description
- ↑ Criticism ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the daily Danas
- ^ Stanko Madic, 1st violinist
