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© Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss, Foto / Photo: Victor Adewale
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Concert

Campus-Concert: Nigeria


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20 EUR, reduced 10 EUR
Please book your ticket in advance online or at the box office in the Foyer.
12 years and older
German, No language skills required
Hall 1, Ground Floor
This event has already taken place.
20 EUR, reduced 10 EUR
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The Beethovenfest is coming to Berlin, bringing together young musicians from Nigeria and Germany. They will perform works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Olufẹlá Şowándé, Cassie Kinoshi, and Mauricio Kagel in a variety of arrangements – alongside both traditional and contemporary songs from Nigeria and Germany.

The Humboldt Forum engages with the history and present of the West African state through its collections, such as the Benin Bronzes returned to Nigeria in 2022, and its programming. The Campus Project has been a central part of the Beethovenfest in Bonn since its inception. Each year, it seeks to foster encounters and exchange between young musicians from Germany and a guest country, whether near or far. The aim is to broaden horizons, challenge techniques, listening habits, and approaches, and thus promote the artistic development of young musicians on both sides.

At the heart of each edition lies a major work by Beethoven, which is placed in dialogue with compositions connected to the guest country, illuminated, fractured, or expanded in unexpected ways. The Symphony Orchestra of the National Music Academy of Ukraine marked the beginning of the international orchestral campus in 2001, as the project was then called. Since then, countless musicians from countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, Iraq, South Africa, India, and Mexico have taken part.

 

The Campus Project is focusing on Nigeria this year. Lagos is currently undergoing rapid development, boasts a vibrant musical life, and is regarded as Africa’s unofficial cultural capital. This nation in transition offers the fitting setting for a festival that, in light of sweeping global transformations, has chosen the motto “Alles Ultra.”

Adé Bantu, the artistic director of this year’s Campus edition and long known for his “music with a message,” invites the ensemble to perform original songs marked by a clear political stance. Alongside these, he weaves in German and Nigerian traditionals and a landmark of Nigerian classical music by Olufęlá Şowándé. With odò (“river”), the Nigerian-British composer Cassie Kinoshi contributes a homage to Yorùbá culture, while Beethoven’s Egmont Overture flashes up in between – a universal message of freedom and defiance against all forms of tyranny.

More about the Campus Project

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Schedule

6:00 PM, Foyer: Concert introduction with Cassie Kinoshi, Adé Bantu, Farouk Olawale Shokanbi, and Meret Louisa Vogel / Moderated by Anastassia Boutsko
7:00 PM, Hall 1: Welcome and concert

 

Short biographies

Partner

Deutsche Welle
Beethovenfest
In the Humboldt Forum's foyer there is a 17 meter high media tower, called "cosmograph". It gives visitors comprehensive information about their visit and can transform into an art and light installation.
© SHF / David von Becker
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