Philharmonic Association of Sinti and Roma Frankfurt am Main
The Philharmonic Association of the Sinti and Roma Frankfurt am Main eV is an association founded in 2001 that is dedicated to maintaining the musical heritage of the Sinti and Roma .
The association, recognized as a non-profit organization, is the organizational umbrella of the Roma and Sinti Philharmonic, which consists of professional musicians of Roma and Sinti origin who are full-time engaged in various opera and symphony orchestras in Europe. The aim of the association's work is to preserve, maintain and promote the musical heritage of the Roma and Sinti. This happens primarily through concert projects of the Roma and Sinti Philharmonic Orchestra, but also through the provision of smaller ensembles for musical performances. The Philharmonic Association also wants to promote young musicians, organizes discussion concerts for children and plans to set up a European Roma youth orchestra. It also promotes musicological and music-ethnological research on the influences of Roma and Sinti culture on classical music.
This work is based on the knowledge and its musical implementation, in how diverse forms the Roma and Sinti music culture has influenced and inspired the so-called "serious" classical music of Europe over the centuries. Such "inspired" works put the Roma and Sinti Philharmonic in the foreground in their concerts. In addition, the Philharmonic Association is keen to promote musicological and music-ethnological research that deals with the question of how and in what form the aforementioned influences on European classical music have taken place and are still effective. To this end, the Philharmonic Association organizes musicological podiums and participates in other research projects of this kind.
Riccardo M Sahiti is also chairman of the Philharmonic Association and artistic director and conductor of the Roma and Sinti Philharmonic. The work of the association and the orchestra is crucially supported by his initiative. For her he received the Federal Cross of Merit from the hands of the then Federal President Joachim Gauck in 2016 .
The Philharmonic Association is based in Frankfurt am Main, but defines its sphere of activity - primarily through the projects of the Roma and Sinti Philharmonic Orchestra - internationally and Europe-wide. The engagement of the Philharmonic Association takes place again and again in close consultation and cooperation with the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma and its chairman Romani Rose . The association is institutionally funded by the City of Frankfurt am Main and the State of Hesse , but is still dependent on donations and third-party funds for the realization of large orchestral projects.
Press reviews
The press coverage of the Philharmonic Association of Sinti and Roma Frankfurt am Main is great throughout Germany.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote in 2012:
- "The" Frankfurter Philharmonische Verein der Sinti und Roma "consists of 60 musicians who belong to the ethnic minority. The orchestra shows during its performances that the Roma culture has absolutely nothing to do with the" funny gypsy life "."
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote about the Philharmonic Association on January 7, 2020 as part of a portrait of its chairman Riccardo M Sahiti:
"The aim of the Frankfurt Philharmonic Association of Sinti and Roma is to cultivate the musical legacy of the Sinti and Roma, whose influence on art music in all of Europe can hardly be overestimated, because from Telemann to Haydn and Brahms to Dvorák and Bartók Let countless composers be inspired again and again by the style of 'gypsy music'. "