The No Borders Orchestra is to be launched with the first concert at the Gala Opening of the 44th Belgrade Music Festival (BEMUS) on 11 October 2012. The Orchestra selected in the auditions held by the end of 2011 includes some 50 brilliant musicians coming from all music centers in the region: Ljubljana, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Podgorica, Skopje, Pristina, Belgrade and Novi Sad. The NBO 2012 programme includes: Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No.1 in D major – Classical Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major Op.73 – Emperor Charles Ives: The Unanswered Question Zoltán Kodály: Dances of Galánta Conductor Premil Petrovic The soloist of the first NBO session is pianist Hinrich Alpers, winner of the Beethoven Competition in Bonn. The Orchestra members will gather for the first time on 5 October in the inspiring little town of Kanjiza, in Vojvodina, very close to the Hungarian border, namely known in the world of arts and culture as the native town of the great and internationally acclaimed choreographer, performer, director and painter Josef Nadj (Joszef Nagy), Artistic Director of the Centre chorégraphique national d'Orléans, Artistic Director of the Avignon Festival in 2006, artist in residence at the Venezia Biennale, Artistic Director of the Pecs Internationl Dance Festival and Artistic Director of the Josef Nadj Creative Atelier in Kanjiza which is to host the rehearsals and workshops. The first two working days in Kanjiza will be devoted to the orchestra workshops led by experienced Berlin musicians: • Violinist Asaf Maoz, Komische Oper Berlin Assistant Concertmaster, Deutsches Kammerorchester Concertmaster and Principal 2nd violin, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra Principal 2nd violin and workshop mentor • Violinist Axel Gerhardt, former long-time member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra • Viola player Felix Schwartz, Staatskapelle Berlin Principal Soloist, West-Eastern Divan Workshop mentor, member of the acclaimed Trio Apollon, professor at the Hochschule für Musik Rostock • Cellist Stefan Giglberger, Konzerthausorchester Berlin Principal Solo Cellist • Double-bass player Matthew McDonald, Principal Bass with the Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin and the Berlin Philharmonic • Flutist Guy Eshed, Solo Flutist of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra and the West Eastern Divan Orchestra • Trumpet player Konradin Groth, Hochschule der Künste Berlin professor, Akademie of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra teacher In order to provide modern promotion and publicity for the NBO, two separate teams are to film and document rehearsals and first NBO performances: Red Production team from Belgrade led by director Miloš Djukelić is to produce a special promotional film, TV broadcasts and project clips necessary for immediate communication with media and partners as well as publicity purposes. Accentus Music from Berlin led by directors Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier, with the producer Yukie Bürkner-Damm, are to create a feature-length documentary on the NBO activities covering a three-year period. The film should be premiered at the Berlinale 2015 and in the same year at ARTE TV. Accentus Music was awarded the Emmy in 2006 for the documentary film “Knowledge is the Beginning – Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra”. The Gala Opening of the BEMUS Festival and NBO inauguration concert is to take place at the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade. The museum is currently under re-construction which suits nicely the idea of “general reconstruction” not only when it comes to arts and culture...! The key speaker at the Opening is Darko Brlek, President of the European Festivals Association (EFA), who kindly accepted the invitation to remind the public of EFA’s 60th anniversary (the whole BEMUS festival this year, as well as all the NBO activities are marked with this important moment in European festivals’ history). The concert will be attended by EFA Secretary General Kathrin Deventer, EFA Office Manager Nathalie Dert, as well as by most of the NBO partners from the region who have greatly contributed to the project coming true. The second concert appearance of the NBO is planned on 18 November in Brussels with the support of BOZAR and in the framework of the Brussels Conference (16-18 November), co-produced by the European House for Culture and its partners including the European Festivals Association, marking the closure of the EFA Diamond Jubilee and preparing the 2013 European Year of Citizens.