A global jazz celebration of Hamburg and Chicago's 30 years as sister cities
Join the Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra and New York-based Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh for this special performance from their 2021 album "Flow." The collaboration presents Azmeh's music in fantastic arrangements by Wolf Kerschek.
ABOUT
Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra
Unique among Germany’s radio big bands, the Hamburg Radio Jazz Orchestra (NDR Bigband) is a jazz ensemble composed of premier soloists of diverse backgrounds and influences whose collective endeavors coalesce to produce an original and striking group sound. Each musician has their own individual style, but there is one thing on which they all agree: what counts is the sound, the groove, the melody – the music. With 1400 concerts performed, more than 80 record releases, and around 25 programmes every year, each musician is required to constantly adjust to new challenges with fresh ears. NDR Bigband has toured with Al Jarreau, Randy Brecker, Omar Sosa, Maria Schneider, Bobby McFerrin, Chet Baker and many other artists not only from the world of jazz, and played concerts and festivals across Europe and the world.
Kinan Azmeh
Kinan Azmeh was born in Damascus in June 1976 and grew up in Syria, surrounded by Arab and Levantine music. But early on, he pursued a straightforward education in Western "classical" music and made a point of not being tied down as a musician to his geographical origins. After studying electrical engineering in Damascus alongside music, he graduated from the Juilliard School in New York and remained true to his profession: music, without confinement. As a soloist, Kinan Azmeh has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and Syrian Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has played with musical celebrities such as Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Barenboim, Marcel Khalife, John McLaughlin, Francois Rabbath, and Aynur and Jivan Gasparian.
This program is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, the Hamburg Senate Chancellery, the Goethe-Institut Chicago, and Chicago Sister Cities International.
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