Aşina — Istanbul Reflections

Istanbul, formerly the capital of three empires, is a place where languages, religions and cultures met for centuries. A rich musical tradition has emerged from this complex structure. The program takes you through musical traces of the city's Greek, Jewish, Armenian and Muslim communities and makes Istanbul's diverse soundscapes audible.

About our new series

Unexpectedly familiar — “aşina” is a word of Persian origin and means something that is familiar to us even if we don't fully know it: a feeling of closeness that requires no explanation. The concert series of the same name stands for a new way of listening, which recognizes the familiar in the supposedly foreign and gives it new closeness. Aşina does not connect through a culture, but through common feelings. Internationally renowned musicians are coming to Berlin for the series, some of them specifically for these concerts after a long time. Traditional traditions, artists from the urban scene and rarely heard in concert halls come together on stage and play the music of our time. At the same time, the audience encounters living environments that often only move side by side in everyday life.