Opening concert Morgenland Festival Osnabrück 2025

Program:
Kayhan Kalhor: Venus in the Mirror - Double Concerto for Cello, Kamancheh and Orchestra
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, op. 14

For its 20th anniversary, the Morgenland Festival Osnabrück, in collaboration with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor/USA, has commissioned a double concerto for cello, kamancheh and orchestra from the Iranian virtuoso and composer Kayhan Kalhor.
Yo-Yo Ma, one of the outstanding musical personalities of our time, will perform the work together with Kayhan Kalhor and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under the direction of principal conductor Alan Gilbert on June 29, 2025 at the OsnabrückHalle, as opening of the 21. the Morgenland Festival Osnabrück. The world premiere will take place two days earlier, on June 27, 2025, at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

Kayhan Kalhor writes about his composition “Venus in the Mirror”: This concerto for cello, Kamancheh (Persian spiked fiddle) and orchestra is an ode to peace and a celebration of a 25-year friendship with Yo-Yo Ma. The piece was written to instill a sense of calm during complicated times and to reflect on the beauty that lies hidden in the balance of what it means to be human.

The kamancheh, a traditional Persian bowed string instrument, is widespread in Iran, the Caucasus and Central Asia and is one of the oldest bowed instruments in existence. Iranian virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor is one of the most well-known soloists on this instrument and has played a major role in introducing Persian music to the international music scene. He has worked with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brooklyn Rider Quartet and can be heard in Francis Ford Coppola's film 'Youth without Youth'. Kalhor is a founding member of the Silk Road Ensemble, where he worked with Yo-Yo Ma for many years.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma rose to fame as a child. In 1962, John F. Kennedy invited him to the White House when Ma was seven years old. At the age of eight, he played on U.S. television with Leonard Bernstein. In the following 60-plus years, Yo-Yo Ma has enjoyed an impressive career. His more than 100 albums have earned him 18 Grammys. In 2000, Yo-Yo Ma founded the Silk Road Ensemble, an ensemble that brings together musicians from all over the world. Yo-Yo Ma's commitment goes far beyond music. He is one of the great humanitarians of our time.

For over 75 years, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra has been North Germany's musical ambassador to the world. As the orchestra in residence at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, it plays a major role in shaping the artistic profile of its main venue on the Elbe. The orchestra was founded immediately after the end of World War II on the initiative of the British military government and in the conviction that culture is indispensable for social renewal and that music and culture can help to facilitate encounters and dialogue.
Since 2019, the American conductor Alan Gilbert has been the orchestra's principal conductor. Gilbert was principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 2009 until June 2017.