28 July – 4 August. Rehearsals in Volksmusikakademie in Freyung, Bavaria 

5 August – 17 August. Rehearsals in Weimar and concerts in Thuringia. 

For the 8th time, Caravan Orchestra & Choir brings together young musicians from different traditions and backgrounds with the common goal of exploring East European Jewish,East Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern music traditions. Every year, we build a learning community that relies on curiosity, transcultural experience, and a general understanding of friendship and partnership. We invite you to become a member of this unique community. All instrumentalists and singers who live in Germany or Israel (regardless of your nationality) are invited to apply.

What to expect from your participation in Caravan? In the summer of 2025, we will continue to explore the connection between Yiddish (East European Jewish) music and musics that derive from the Ottoman heritage, including Arabic music, which will be taught by veteran members of Caravan. We have found a wonderful shared repertoire (including instrumental melodies, songs, and dances) between these traditions and will study their common heritage as well as their individual musical lives in different cultures in Europe, the Levant, and Asia Minor. We will learn a lot of music by ear, and improvisation will play a major role in our music making. The teaching faculty (see below) consists of renowned practitioners of Yiddish, Turkish, and Ottoman traditions with decades of teaching expertise in projects like Caravan.

The 2025 Caravan Orchestra and Choir will take place from July 28 in the morning to August 18 in the afternoon. We will spend the first week of our time together at the beautiful Volksmusikakademie in Freyung, Bavaria and the second part in Weimar during Yiddish Summer Weimar.

Apply by clicking HERE!
Application deadline is April 27th, 2025.

Volksmusikakademie Freyung

While we will sing in many languages, English will be the main language of communication.

We will ask a 100 EUR fee for participation in Caravan Orchestra & Choir. In return, we will cover your travels, tuition with great teachers, all of the food in Bavaria and most of it in Weimar, and we will – hopefully with your help – find accommodation for participants in Weimar. There is an age limit of 30 years, so your birthday should be after August 18th, 1995. However, if you are older than that, please apply anyway and we’ll try to make your participation possible somehow.

For participants living in Weimar: please get in touch if you can offer accommodation for fellow band members from Haifa or Germany. If so, we can waive the participation fee for you.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with the project manager, Anna Grünhardt

(anna.gruenhardt@othermusicacademy.eu). 

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