In 2016 a series of concerts called “The Art of Duo” reduced this dialogue to its most basic form. The Chinese Sheng player Wu Wei met the pianist Salman Gambarov from Azerbaijan; the French serpent player Michel Godard got together with the Azerbaijani singer Alim Qasimov; and the Iranian kamanche player Kayhan Kalhor played with Toumani Diabate from Mali.

These intimate musical summit meetings were juxtaposed with larger formations, such as the Morgenland All Star Band, whose concert on the Markt in front of the Town Hall was preceded by a performance from the 20-piece band “Banda Internationale”. The opening concert of the Festival brought together the Syrian Expat Philharmonic Orchestra and their colleagues from the Morgenland Chamber Orchestra, as well as the virtuoso Theremin player Carolina Eyck, who enthralled the audience together with the Syrian oud player Aktham Abou Fakher. Saleem Ashkar started his Beethoven cycle, during which he played all Beethoven Sonatas over a series of eight concerts at different venues in Israel, Berlin, Prague and in the Felix Nussbaum Haus in Osnabrück.

“Zwei Reisen nach Isfahan” [Two journeys to Isfahan] presented two musical travelogues from 1635 and 2013, with the Hamburger Ratsmusik, Neda Rahmanian and Houman Esmailian.