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The 9th edition of Morgenland Festival Osnabrück takes place from 27th of September to 6th of October 2013. The main focus will be "Baghdad - Arab Capital of Culture". The whole program will be presented in spring 2013.

Morgenland Festival Osnabrück

"The Morgenland Festival Osnabrück sets new standards in the encounter between the West and the East." Stefan Buchen, Qantara.de

The Morgenland Festival Osnabrück first took place in 2005 and very soon earned itself an outstanding reputation amongst the international music festivals. Connected with music institutions all over the world, the annual festival programme is representative of the contemporary music culture in the Near and Middle East, from traditional music to avant-garde, from classical to rock. The music projects are accompanied by exhibitions, readings, lectures and workshops.

The Morgenland Festival Osnabrück does not just simply offer "imported" culture, it seeks moreover to be a co-working space, a place where musicians from differing (music) cultures can meet, exchange ideas and inspire each other. Thus, the Morgenland Chamber Orchestra was founded in 2009 with musicians from Iran, Azerbaijan, Syria and Germany; the Syrian Bigband with soloists from all over the world, after performing in Osnabrück, went on tour to places such as Berlin, Damascus and Amman; the Uyghur rock band "Qetiq" played in Osnabrück with a Syrian clarinet player and a drummer from Germany; the project "Qasida" brought together Spanish flamenco and Arabian and Persian music. There are also long-standing cooperation projects, such as the annual exchange of students between the Barenboim-Said Conservatory in Nazareth and the Musik & Kunstschule (Music and Art school) Osnabrück or the orchestra partnership between the Teheran Symphony Orchestra and the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra, both of which came about as a result of this Festival’s unique concept.

Not least because of the guest concerts by the Teheran Symphony Orchestra in Germany - with works by Persian composers, as well as by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Frank Zappa - and the concert in Teheran by the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra, the Festival has received extraordinary acclaim from audiences and the press alike. From the New York Times to the Hindu Post, from Australian News to the Syria Times, many of the world’s largest media in the east and the west have given the Morgenland Festival Osnabrück coverage. Several documentary films have also been produced in connection with the Festival, as well as numerous German and international TV reports. "Eastern Voices", a 60 minute documentary about the Morgenland Festival Osnabrück is available as BlueRay and DVD from the renowned firm of music film producers EuroArts International. The film is directed by its makers Frank Scheffer and Günter Wallbrecht.

Michael Dreyer, the artistic director of the Morgenland Festival Osnabrück, was awarded the Sate of Lower Saxony Praetorius Music Prize 2009 in the category "International Peace Music Prize".