CULTURES AGAINST FEAR

Orchestra Multietnica di Arezzo
Conducted by Enrico Fink

Founded in 2007, the Orchestra Multietnica di Arezzo (OMA) has developed, over the years, a journey through cultures and traditions expressed through concerts, theatre productions and workshops across Italy. It is a story of encounter, migration and belonging, travelling from North Africa through Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and Eastern Europe, and finally to Italy and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea — a sea that both connects and separates peoples, and today traces new routes of migration.

Music and culture are, for OMA, expressions of plurality, dialogue and exchange. This principle lies at the heart of the project that, over fifteen years ago, led to the creation of the orchestra. OMA is a permanent workshop, open to new musicians at all times, with a particular focus on migrant artists and second-generation performers. Alongside its concerts, the orchestra runs workshops and lecture-performances for schools, as well as for refugees and asylum seekers.

Through these activities, the musicians of OMA contribute to building a more cohesive and inclusive multicultural society, in which diversity is recognised as a shared value.

Over the years, OMA has collaborated with internationally renowned musicians and artists, while remaining faithful to its founding vision. These include Paolo Benvegnù, Stefano “Cisco” Bellotti, Raiz, Moni Ovadia, Filippo Graziani, Erriquez and Finaz (Bandabardò), Shel Shapiro, Frank London, Dario Brunori, Amanda Sandrelli, Ottavia Piccolo, Stefano Massini, Ginevra Di Marco, Santino Spinelli, Modena City Ramblers and Neri Marcorè.