Not only the hr-Sinfonieorchester, but also the hr-Bigband continues to rely on streaming concerts after the cancellation of live dates to bring you great live music and real cultural enjoyment at home.
You can experience all concerts of the two hr orchestras via video livestream and then as video-on-demand.
The hr-Bigband's streaming concerts kick off on Saturday, May 1, with Lucy Woodward. The US singer is best known for her soulful, groovy jazz and a successful collaboration with the band Snarky Puppy. Principal conductor Jim McNeely will write a tailor-made programme for her for this encounter with the hr-Bigband. On Friday, May 7, the program will include the seven-part suite "Barefoot Dances and Other Visions", which McNeely wrote with the qualities of the individual musicians in mind. On Friday, May 14, the hr-Bigband will dedicate a concert evening to jazz guitarist John Abercrombie. Finally, on Friday, May 28, there will be an afternoon concert for children in which the story of "Peter and the Wolf" will be given a jazz-orchestral treatment. Band leader Katharina Thomsen has given Sergei Prokofiev's music a good shake and in her big band version has saxophones, trombone, double bass and other jazz instruments portray the characters and animals involved, and the musicians of the hr-Bigband will breathe plump life into them.
The musicians of both orchestras continue to use the livestreams to draw attention to the precarious situation of freelance colleagues and call for donations to the German Orchestra Foundation's emergency relief fund. The streams can be followed live and afterwards on the websites and social media channels of the hr-Sinfonieorchester and hr-Bigband. Individual concerts will also be heard on hr2-kultur.
Date overview:
Friday, 7. May, 8pm:
"Barefoot Dances and other Visions"
hr-Big Band; Jim McNeely, conductor
Friday, May 14. May, 8 p.m.
Timeless: John Abercrombie
hr big band; Martin Scales, guitar; Jim McNeely, conducting
Friday, 28. May, 4pm:
Children's Concert "Peter and the Wolf"
hr-Bigband; Niels Kaiser, narrator; Katharina Thomsen, conductor
