Projects

In a world marked by war, right-wing populism, deepening social inequality, human rights violations, and human-caused climate change, turning our attention to love might seem disarmingly simple. Yet, this apparent simplicity is precisely its power. At the root of our global crises is an absolute lack of care, empathy, compassion, relational responsibility, and the capacity to recognise the vulnerability of others.

In recent years, feminist, queer, and leftist thinkers and artists have therefore returned to terms such as radical tenderness, radical love, and revolutionary love. These concepts do not describe love as a private emotion alone; they understand it as an ethical and political force: a way of resisting fear, alienation, division, and othering.

The Lovers Tour approaches love not as an escape from the world, but as a driving force within it. We are choosing radical empathy over systemic apathy, solidarity, attention, a refusal of exclusion, and a commitment to the freedom of others. It encompasses romantic love, queer love, friendship, chosen family, self-love, and the fragile bonds through which people create belonging. Within society as a whole, these seemingly small, everyday actions are incredibly important, powerful, subversive, and transgressive toward the dominant system.

The freedom to love remains an unfinished political struggle. It concerns the universal recognition, protection, and inclusion of different forms of love, intimacy, and kinship. Against discrimination, hatred, and violence, the Lovers Tour insists on a simple ethical principle: when people find happiness, dignity, and connection with one another, what right does anyone have to deny them that freedom?

For the No Borders Orchestra, this question is not abstract. The concert itself becomes a laboratory for a kinder and more open society. Listening, breathing together, sharing time, and giving space to others are not only musical acts—they are social acts. In this sense, the Lovers understand the orchestra as a community in practice: a temporary public space in which difference is not erased, but held, heard, and transformed into collective energy; a space where people forge alliances across borders. Friendship as a way of being. Love as an active practice of liberation. Lovers as an embodiment of love.

The Lovers Tour therefore thematizes both the freedom of the individual act of love and love as a political force. It asks us to become more loving and to open up space for others. Love appears here not as a naive ideal, but as a disruptive and liberating practice of connection.

Real love creates a new world. A different, better world! Let’s start where transformation is the most realistic. Let’s start with ourselves!

The Turning Point traverses the aesthetic crossroads of Schoenberg, Strauss, and Mahler, composers whose works are emblematic of a pivotal era straddling the late Romantic tradition and the onset of Modernism. At the same time, the Tour mirrors our own era's critical juncture, resonating with the perspectives of contemporary thinkers, politicians, and philosophers who see striking parallels between the world today and the tumultuous period preceding World War I. That period, much like our own, was a world in crisis, oscillating between the untenable Old and the necessary but uncharted New, a world searching for meaning in the midst of meaninglessness. Through this thematic exploration, the project confronts our present-day challenges, mirroring a world once teetering on the edge. Yet, amidst this somber reflection, the Turning Point embodies a message of hope, imploring us not to let history repeat its darkest chapters but rather to transcend our mistakes and forge a path toward a more enlightened and united civilization. This powerful narrative is not just a reminiscence of a world at the brink, but a beacon of optimism, guiding us to emerge from these troubling times as a stronger, more harmonious society.

Wars, increasing social inequalities, pollution, climate change and the destruction of remaining natural zones, has brought the world to a breaking point. There is a need for transformation on many levels. NBO sees this crisis as an opportunity, a chance to grow as a society and unite in the fight for peace and understanding. It is necessary to open ourselves to others and to profoundly transform the way of living. It is crucial to act now!

Accompanying these historical masterpieces there are four newly commissioned contemporary works, from leading composers from the region: Nina Perovic (Montenegro), Davor Branimir Vincze (Croatia), Darija Andovska (North Macedonia) and Marko Nikodijevic (Serbia). These pieces serve as a thematic bridges within the program, highlighting the ongoing dialogue between the past and the present, thematize explicitly the dramatic situation in which the world is right now and pointing towards the future.

The global pandemic left the world in a shaken and vulnerable state. Even as it seemed the world was regaining its bearings and pulling out of the crisis, another devastating and unthinkable event occurred – the war in Ukraine.

It is important for all of us to understand where we are right now and to gain the courage to face our current social, physical, economic, and environmental insecurities and vulnerabilities.

Vulnerability is “uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure.” It is the unstable feeling we get when we step out of our comfort zone or do something that forces us to loosen control.

With this tour NBO proposes not to deny our present situation, not to run away, not to be a victim, but rather invites us to see this crisis as an opportunity to embrace our vulnerabilities, open ourselves to others and to profoundly transform our way of living. To embrace our vulnerabilities means to use them as a chance to grow as a society and unite in the fight for peace and understanding.

Choosing courage and vulnerability can open us up to love, joy and belonging, and bring us closer to “wholehearted living.”

The inspiration for the title of this year’s tour comes from the Sufi teacher and philosopher Rumi's famous poem:

The NBO "No Return to Normality" Tour invites people to think about life after the pandemic. With systemic problems such as climate change, social inequality, hyper-productivity and consumerism we need to ask ourselves if we want to return to the way things were before the pandemic. NBO is a testament to the need and possibility of music overcoming national and communal differences for the sake of the common good. This spirit is needed more than ever in the world during and after the corona pandemic. Humanity needs to come together and develop an overriding common purpose.

We believe our experience of bringing people together, through music, in the Balkans is relevant for the rest of the world. At the beginning of the corona pandemic a group of more than 200 high-profile artists, scientists, and thought leaders signed a call to arms, asking citizens and leaders not to return to the "normal" that led us to the brink of this pandemic. With this tour NBO joins them in this urge to avoid post-lockdown “return to normal”. We need transformation, a profound overhaul of our goals, beliefs and values. We are building the reality for which we will all be equally responsible. We must act now.

OPEN LETTER The Covid-19 pandemic is a tragedy. This crisis is, however, inviting us to examine what is essential. And what we see is simple: “adjustments” are not enough. The problem is systemic. The ongoing ecological catastrophe is a meta-crisis: the massive extinction of life on Earth is no longer in doubt, and all indicators point to a direct existential threat. Unlike a pandemic, however severe, a global ecological collapse will have immeasurable consequences. We therefore solemnly call upon leaders — and all of us as citizens – to leave behind the unsustainable logic that still prevails and to undertake a profound overhaul of our goals, values and economies. The pursuit of consumerism and an obsession with productivity have led us to deny the value of life itself: that of plants, that of animals, and that of a great number of human beings. Pollution, climate change, and the destruction of our remaining natural zones has brought the world to a breaking point. For these reasons, along with increasing social inequalities, we believe it is unthinkable to ‘go back to normal’. The radical transformation we need – at all levels – demands boldness and courage. It will not happen without a massive and determined commitment. We must act now. It is as much a matter of survival as one of dignity and coherence.

Building on a successful tour of the Balkans during summer 2018 the No Borders Orchestra string ensemble, accompanied by percussions and electronica, follow up in summer 2019 with another international tour around the Western Balkans and Europe called B Matinee. This project, whose name suggests new beginnings, brings together contemporary classical music and clubbing culture, and features cutting-edge new compositions by five exciting young composers from the Balkan region. These new, contemporary, experimental compositions are inspired by Berghain, the famous Berlin club. The 2019 B Matinee tour also commemorates thirty years of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and celebrates the tearing down of walls between classical and clubbing music. By communicating with contemporary techno sound, our composers cross genres, surmounting the borders between different styles of music. The result is a new and fresh sound that has no limits celebrating new paths and possibilities.

In the region at the very heart of Europe that has for decades stood for crisis, conflict and divisiveness, there is a group of young people that embodies a different story. Their passion is togetherness, their bond is friendship, their language is music. No Borders Orchestra is their story!

As we see every day in the news, what is happening in the Balkans is happening in the world: that is why NBO’s impact is not regional, its reach is universal!

With its excellent music making, No Borders Orchestra breaks down borders of all kinds: between countries, classes and ethnicities, between the classical concert halls of the elites and the rocking stages of the people. Made up of the best professional musicians from every country, religious and ethnic group of the former Yugoslavia, the orchestra is a living embodiment of everything that matters to modern Europe: diversity, integration and the spirit of friendship. Hence the commitment to excellence: the quality of our music is a direct expression of what we believe the Western Balkans – and Europe – can achieve when united by tolerance and togetherness.

To spread their powerful message, No Borders Orchestra is establishing the annual Balkan Season tour in the region.

No Borders Orchestra together with musicians from Dresdner Sinfoniker, Dresdner Kammerchor, AuditivVokal and musicians from Turkey and Armenia.