Banda Comunale

Banda Internationale is a collective of refugee and non-refugee musicians. They are united by the desire to change the existing conditions in Saxony, especially those in Dresden. They believe that prejudices should be dismantled and replaced with bridges between cultures, religions, and ethnicities. Through their music, they doing their best to help integration succeed and a more open Saxony to emerge. In the early fall of 2015, the musicians of “Banda Comunale,” a brass band that formed in Dresden 15 years ago, began to look for musicians among the refugees arriving in the city, and they created a new constellation: Banda Internationale. Together, they are re-interpreting the concept of “folk music” by broadening their repertoire to include the music of the homelands of all of the participants. In weekly rehearsals, the musicians have worked together to arrange musical numbers – leading to a CD recording in the fall of 2016 and a German concert tour. The band has played more than 300 concerts together, and in 2017, the collective launched a project called “The Kids Are Alright.” For this project, the long-time and new members of the band hold workshops at Saxon schools; they have also started a band with unaccompanied refugee minors. The success of the band and the enthusiasm with which they have been received by audiences is not surprising (everyone loves good music); what is truly remarkable about the project is the dedication of the musicians to the band. All of the initial members, as well as many of the new members, have day jobs. Despite the demands of work, family, learning the German language, and navigating German bureaucracy, they all generously give their time to their music, to each other, their community in Dresden, and to their audiences all over Germany. Banda Internationale was nominated by the German Minister of Culture Monika Grütters for the new “Special Prize for Projects on the Cultural Participation of Refugees” in May 2016 and awarded first prize. Further, Banda Internationale has been awarded with the “Saxon Prize for Democracy,” “the Saxon Prize for Socio-Cultural Engagement“, and distinguished as an “Excellent Site in Germany, Land of Ideas” by the Deutsche Bank. In 2017, the collective received the “German Prize for World Music”, and was awarded 50,000 Euros with the “Power of Arts” prize from the initiative “Network for Young Ears” and the Philip Morris corporation. In December of 2017, they received the “EuroMed Dialogue Award 2017“ from the Anna Lindh Foundation, which was presented in Tallinn to them by mayor of Lampedusa, Guiseppina Maria Nicolini.