No Borders Orchestra

No Borders Orchestra (NBO) is a symphony orchestra made up of players, young and old, from all five Western Balkan countries. They organise an annual tour as well as ad hoc concerts across the region, taking in established venues as well as developing new spaces to perform in towns and villages. The importance of listening is a key part of their manifesto as an orchestra, not looking back in nostalgia but inviting open and responsible dialogue about the past, thinking to the future and being open to the new. Their ambition is to play the highest quality work, to engage new audiences in classical music, and to fight against discrimination based on culture, ethnicity, religion, or personal identity. The repertoire is progressive with contemporary work and new commissioning played alongside historical masterworks. The NBO model is based on the West-East Divan Orchestra conceived by Edward Said and Daniel Barenboim.