Morgenland Festival Osnabrück
The Morgenland Festival Osnabrück is a German music festival held in Osnabrück. It has taken place since 2005 and lasts 10 days, with a shorter 4-day intermezzo in odd-numbered years.
The festival brings together traditional and contemporary music from the wider Middle East and also includes other art forms such as visual arts, dance and theatre. Its aim is to challenge traditional ideas about the “Orient” and to give artists time and space to create new work. Often the music is developed during the festival rather than prepared in advance.
Many renowned and lesser-known artists have appeared, including Alim Qasimov, Kayhan Kalhor, Jivan Gasparyan, Salman Gambarov, and the NDR Bigband. Performances have included guests from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Azerbaijan, the Xinjiang region of China and Turkey. Highlights have included the Tehran Symphony Orchestra playing Persian works alongside Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra performing in Tehran, and the Osnabrück Youth Choir singing Bach’s St John Passion in Tehran.
Since 2009, the Morgenland Chamber Orchestra has been a regular feature, combining German musicians with players from guest countries for the festival opening. Conductors have included Nader Mashayekhi and Kinan Azmeh.
An annual student exchange connects the Osnabrück Music and Art School with Nazareth’s Barenboim-Said Conservatory. Students spend a week in the host country, rehearse a programme together, and perform it at the festival’s end.
The festival is a cooperation between the City of Osnabrück and the Culture Centre Lagerhalle Osnabrück. It receives support from various foundations and sponsors, such as Stiftung Niedersachsen, Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung, Sparkasse Osnabrück, Musikland Niedersachsen, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture, NDR Musikförderung, the Landschaftsverband Osnabrücker Land, Sievert AG and Hinrichs Licht und Druck.
In 2009, festival founder Michael Dreyer received the Lower Saxony Praetorius Music Award for International Award for Music for Peace. Since 2009, the Society of Friends of the Morgenland Festival has raised funds for festival projects, produced a documentary photo book (2005–2009) and the documentary film Eastern Voices, and organizes trips for its members. Venues change from year to year.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:41 (CET).