Stimmen des Orients - Geschichten in Musik

In the organizer's words:

Female musicians tell their stories through music

The concert series "Voices of the Orient - Stories in Music" is a unique cultural project in North Rhine-Westphalia that puts talented female musicians in the spotlight. The artists represent the musical diversity of the Middle East, including sounds from Iran, Syria, Armenia, Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish and Indian music culture. Singers and instrumentalists - including baglama, saz, kanun, nay flute, violin, saxophone and percussion - work together to create a stage repertoire that reflects their personal stories, cultural experiences and their love of music. They present traditional pieces as well as their own compositions and innovative arrangements that take the audience on a sonorous journey.

The project spans the entire year 2025 and involves intensive artistic development. In workshops and intensive rehearsals, the musicians will develop their program, which will be performed in three public concerts in Brühl, Bochum and Hagen. In addition to the musical work, elements of acting and stage presentation are also incorporated into the training in order to strengthen the artists' expressiveness and stage presence.

With this concert series, we want to give female musicians from the Middle East living in North Rhine-Westphalia in particular the opportunity to develop their artistic voice and present their music in public. Many of these women face social and family challenges that make it difficult for them to establish themselves in the music scene. While they are often denied access to public stages in their countries of origin, there are other structural hurdles in Germany that highlight the need for targeted support measures.

NRW, with its cultural diversity, offers the ideal setting for this project. This concert series contributes to the visibility of underrepresented female artists and at the same time sensitizes the audience to the challenges faced by women in the music industry.

The project "Voices of the Orient - Stories in Music" is funded by the Diversity Fund and the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia and is based on the project "Empowerment of female musicians of oriental music in NRW". The aim is to strengthen these structures in the long term, promote the participation of female musicians and sustainably enrich musical diversity in North Rhine-Westphalia.