The aim of the Roma and Sinti Philharmonic Association Frankfurt am Main, founded in 2001, is to cultivate the musical heritage of the Roma and Sinti people. Only one year later, Riccardo M. Sahiti founded the Roma and Sinti Philharmonic Orchestra.
The orchestra focuses on performing musical works that are rooted in Roma and Sinti culture and are inspired by them. Among the large number of composers who incorporated Roma and Sinti musical heritage in their works are Béla Bartók (“Romanian Folk Dances”), Franz Liszt (“Hungarian Rhapsodies”), Zoltán Kodály (“Dances of Galanta”), Johannes Brahms (“Hungarian Dances”), Georges Bizet (“Carmen”), Johann Strauss (“The Gypsy Baron”) and Pablo de Sarasate (“Gypsy Airs”).
Furthermore the orchestra’s existence is intended to inspire composers and artists to produce works that engage with or are inspired by the Roma and Sinti culture. Compositions such as “Memory” by Stanko Sepic, “Falling Dance” by Kálmán Csèki and “Zwischen Himmel und Erde” (“Between Heaven and Earth”) by Hartmut Jentzsch (the orchestra gave the world premiere of all of these) are testament to this. It is the first orchestra in the world to focus specifically on this concern and is largely composed of musicians with Roma and Sinti backgrounds.
More information can be found under www.foerdervereinroma.de