The 2016 Roskilde Festival will be kicked off with a performance by the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music, fronted by Damon Albarn, writes thelocal.dk.

Organizers said on Tuesday that this year's first performance on the Roskilde Festival’s iconic Orange stage would be from The Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music, led by conductor Issam Rafea and joined by Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn as well as other special guests.

Roskilde organizers wrote that they chose their opener to highlight “the remarkable music culture of Syria, providing a more positive perspective than events currently seen in the news.”

“This will be an extraordinary, fun, moving and unpredictable opening show. To open our Orange Stage with a Syrian national orchestra together with a large group of Western musicians is a way for us to show how music and culture can make people come together and overcome borders and conflicts,” spokeswoman Christina Bilde said.

bbabo.Net