The Blur frontman will open Rosklide’s Orange Stage this year with the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music
The Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music are set to perform a rare concert at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival with Damon Albarn and guests. The concert is presented in association with Albarn’s Africa Express project.
The opening of the Orange Stage is known as a prestigious task at the festival as the stage is seen as a place where people can come together to celebrate the way music can inspire and unite people.
“This will be an extraordinary, fun, moving and unpredictable opening show. To open our Orange Stage with a Syrian national orchestra together with a large group of Western musicians is a way for us to show how music and culture can make people come together and overcome borders and conflicts,” Says Rosklide organiser Christina Bilde, “Currently, several European countries have shut their borders, and many people view refugees as a burden. Through music we’re trying to show how people can be regarded as resources and offer something to the new communities they are now part of. Additionally, it’s very important for us to show and highlight the proud Syrian cultural history that is currently being demolished by the country’s civil war.”
Rosklide takes place 25 June – 2 July 2016 near Copenhagen, Denmark. To see what else will be going on at this year’s festival head over to their website.