In December 2020, during the second Corona lockdown, almost all live concerts were cancelled, including a long-planned tour of the USA, which would have taken the Galilee Chamber Orchestra to venues such as the New York Carnegie Hall. Looking back, Saleem Ashkar, the renowned pianist and head of the Galilee Strings said, “We were disappointed and frustrated. But at the same time we had this incredible craving to make music. It just so happened that some of our musicians had recently moved to Berlin. So we met, rehearsed and performed Pergolesi’s ‘Stabat Mater’ in the wonderful, completely empty Sophienkirche in Berlin. That was a very emotional beginning for Galilee Strings. In the meantime we now jokingly call this formation our ‘Quarantine Ensemble’.” With their conductor Ashkar the string ensemble will play works by the Syrian composers Mohannad Nasser and Mevan Younes, as well as Mozart’s A major Piano Concerto KV 414 in a chamber music-like setting. The final work of the programme is Peter Tchaikovsky’s brilliant String Serenade op. 48.