This year the Campus Project journeys to Nigeria: the Afrobeat band BANTU together with young people from Germany and Nigeria weave their different musical languages into a transtraditional experience.
Fri. 12.9.2025
19:00, Humboldt Forum Berlin
Beethovenfest in Berlin: Campus Concert Nigeria
- Cross-Genre
- Past Event
- € 20 (Tickets via Humboldt Forum)
Campus-Projekt 2025 © Beethovenfest Bonn 
BANTU © Victor Adewale 
Cassie Kinoshi © Aurore Fouchez 
Isaiah Oladele Odeyale © Victor Adewale
Contributors
- Members of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany
- Young musicians from Nigeria
- Members of BANTU
- Ade Bantu concept & vocals
- Isaiah Odeyale musical director & trombone
- Cassie Kinoshi saxophone & composition
Programme
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ouverture to »Egmont« in excerpts, arr. by Josef Bach
BANTU
»Ten Times Backwards«, »Cash and Carry« & »We No Go Gree« arr. by Isaiah Oladele
Yoruba Traditional
»Omo to moya re loju«, arr. by Josef Bach
German Traditional
»Die Gedanken sind frei«, arr. by Isaiah Oladele
Olufęlá Şowándé
»Nostalgia« & »Akinla« from »African Suite«
Fela Kuti
»Colonial Mentality«
Mauricio Kagel
IV. Vivace, V. Moderato & X. Allegro from »10 Marches to Miss the Victory«
Cassie Kinoshi
»odò (river)« (premiere)
BANTU
»Yeye Theory« & »Disrupt The Programme«, arr. by Isaiah Oladele
The concert at a glance
What can I expect?
What does it sound like?
In cooperation with
Description
Lagos, Nigerian cultural metropolis and African megacity – the city is currently undergoing rapid development, boasts a vibrant musical life, and is considered the unofficial cultural capital of Africa. This year the Campus Project, an international youth project of Beethovenfest and Deutsche Welle, focuses on Nigeria. The country in transition is the perfect meeting place for a festival that, with the numerous global changes of our time, has adopted the motto »Alles ultra«.
Young musicians from the host country join together with members of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany in Lagos and Bonn for intensive rehearsals. Under the artistic direction of the Afrobeat band BANTU, they develop their own music for a cross-cultural concert where Beethoven meets Nigerian musical tradition and the country’s current musical trends in pop culture.
Ade Bantu, the musical director of this year’s Campus edition, is known for »music with a message« and will have the ensemble play their own songs with clear political messages. He has also programmed German and Nigerian traditional songs, as well as a masterpiece of Nigerian classical music by Olufela Sowande. Nigerian-British composer Cassie Kinoshi pays homage to Nigeria’s Yorùbá culture with »odò« (»river«). In between, Beethoven’s universal message of freedom and resistance to all tyranny will be represented by the »Egmont Overture«.
