- 4 months ago
The Bantu Band, the National Youth Orchestra of Germany, and Nigerian musicians make up The Beethovenfest Campus Project! The Challenge: Finding a new sound that combines afrobeat, classical music and folk during rehearsals in Lagos and Bonn!
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00:00Final preparations ahead of the big gala concert in Bonn in September 2025.
00:12Members of the band Bantu, the German Youth Orchestra, and up-and-coming musicians from Nigeria
00:17are all taking part in the campus project of the Beethoven Festival.
00:21Are they nervous ahead of the performance?
00:24Nerves are okay. I'd say 3 out of 10. It'll probably hit when we go on stage.
00:31I don't know what to expect from the crowd.
00:36There's always a healthy level of nerves, at least with me.
00:40I am! Why won't I be? I am so excited.
00:45Of course I'm a bit nervous, but I think it'll be good. I'm quite confident.
00:49And it is good. Featuring Afrobeat protest songs with classical wind and string accompaniment.
01:08And Beethoven's Egmont. Quite a unique mix.
01:12The concert is the high point of Campus 2025 from the Beethoven Festival, the German Youth Orchestra, and Deutsche Welle.
01:25And this is where the adventure began, six months earlier and 5,000 kilometers further south in Lagos, Nigeria.
01:32It's a city of 25 million inhabitants, with thousands more arriving daily.
01:37It's noisy and dirty, but also a vibrant boomtown, a cultural and economic center of West Africa.
01:45The city's motto is, this is Lagos, deal with it.
01:51For the first time, six young musicians from Germany meet six more from Nigeria,
01:55along with British composer Cassie Kinoshy and music legends Bantu.
02:01Africa meets Europe.
02:03Tradition meets modernity.
02:05Afrobeat meets classical music.
02:07The challenge is to find common ground and a common tone.
02:17Ade Bantu leads the project, expressing clear words at the start of this challenge.
02:21We look forward to collaborating, getting to learn from one another, and putting our egos outside.
02:34So anybody that came into this room with their ego, we strongly advise you go back outside and just dump it there.
02:51To kick things off, a song by Bantu, ten times backwards.
03:04It's about shattered dreams and hopes, a song from the reality of Nigeria.
03:10In addition to Afrobeat, there's also Beethoven to be rehearsed for the concert in Bonn.
03:14The program also includes a commissioned work by award-winning composer Cassie Kinoshy, who's based in London and Berlin.
03:22She wrote the piece especially for the Beethoven festival.
03:25It's still in its infancy.
03:27First notes, first attempts.
03:29Cassie Kinoshy has close ties to Nigeria.
03:41Her father, Tox, lived in Lagos for many years before moving to England.
03:45His longing and homesickness for Nigeria accompanied him and his family.
03:49The campus project gave Cassie a chance to explore her African roots.
03:57It's a kind of homecoming for her.
04:00For me, flying in was kind of, I was like, wow, my dad was here for a few years of his formative years.
04:10And kind of like a reconnection with part of my heritage.
04:15Not quite home, but like, I think just getting a feel for it and almost like emotional because there's a very personal connection to it that I'm going to learn more about.
04:26Twelve musicians from very different backgrounds are brought together in the campus project.
04:33I'm Mary from Lagos.
04:34My name is Luis, I'm 20 years old and I'm currently studying clarinet in Lübeck.
04:44In Europe, people generally don't know much about Africa.
04:47At least I don't.
04:49And I've never been to Africa.
04:51So this was a great opportunity to learn new things and meet new people from other cultures.
04:55Maria Feolua from Lagos studied at the Muson Center, one of the best schools for classical music on the African continent.
05:07Like many others, she started with church music and later studied classical violin.
05:12Not something to be taken for granted.
05:15We love music in our family, but it's not allowed to be studied as a career.
05:20I stick to my music. It wasn't really easy, but now it's easy and it's accepted.
05:28The first day of rehearsals. Things are slowly coming together. The atmosphere is relaxed.
05:35Obviously they all come with a certain skill set. I'm absolutely happy.
05:40The young people are extremely talented. I mean, this is the cream of the crop.
05:45It is a dream come true indeed.
05:46Ade Bantu was born in London. His father is Nigerian and his mother German.
05:56At the age of four, he moved to Germany, where he later launched his career.
06:00Then he returned to Nigeria in search of his roots.
06:04Leaving, returning, leaving again. A typical story from Nigeria.
06:09Life between two countries.
06:10We can call multiple places home at the same time, you know.
06:13And I'm just somebody who feels very much at home in Nigeria, but also in Germany.
06:22And I don't feel like I have to compare both.
06:28The first hurdle has been cleared and the team relax on Victoria Island Beach in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
06:34Creating common ground across all borders, bringing together young musicians from all over the world.
06:42That's been the idea behind the Beethoven Festival campus for more than 20 years.
06:46It's an intense experience for everyone involved.
06:53The super rich are at home in Lagos, but right next door there is poverty.
06:58And slum areas are being demolished to make way for new neighborhoods for billionaires.
07:03Young, hungry, ready to do anything to survive, thousands of people seek their fortune here every day.
07:09It's totally overwhelming. I've never been in such a huge, chaotic city.
07:20At the same time, the people are super friendly and have given us a really warm welcome.
07:25But of course, it's total sensory overload.
07:30Life in the eye of the storm is a challenge.
07:32I have a love-hate relationship with Lagos.
07:38I'm really fascinated by Lagos because there's something about it that you can't quite hold, you know.
07:46It just keeps reshaping itself. It's in constant motion.
07:53The next day brings a visit to a special location.
07:55The New Africa Shrine Nightclub, founded in 1972 by Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti.
08:02World stars such as Stevie Wonder and Bono have come here.
08:05This is where the roots of Afrobeat lie.
08:08Fela Kuti was celebrated worldwide in the 1970s for his pulsating sound, combining jazz, high life, and pop.
08:16And for his political stance.
08:18He died young, but remains an icon to this day.
08:20For the group, the visit reveals the significance of Afrobeat and underlines the power of music in Nigeria.
08:27The 12 musicians from Nigeria and Germany are growing into a team and are ready to take stock after just under a week.
08:35It was so enriching to get to know the Nigerians and the culture, the music, and to mix it with our experiences and with our music.
08:44Amazing. Like I got to play with German musicians. It was great.
08:50It was fun. It was exciting. It was very, very intense.
08:54It has been so amazing meeting German people and now I think your family is now.
09:00It was a Nigerian dream. That's it.
09:02That's it.
09:05The following day they're warming up and joking around ahead of their first performance.
09:10It's at the Jay Randall Center dedicated to the Yoruba, one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria.
09:20Their public rehearsal becomes a small concert and a big hit, a highlight of the week in Lagos.
09:25Although they've only known each other for a short time, they've already found a common tone.
09:30The audience is thrilled by so much power, giving an enthusiastic reaction.
09:51But now it's time to say farewell until the reunion at the Beethoven Fest in Bonn.
10:06Bonn is a major contrast to Lagos.
10:09The peaceful western German city on the Rhine has a mere 340,000 inhabitants.
10:15It's now six months later and it's autumn.
10:17Most of the young Nigerian musicians have never been to Europe before.
10:25This is their first trip outside Nigeria.
10:28You see the excitement. Everyone's taking selfies.
10:30They're very curious at the breakfast buffet.
10:34They're trying new things out.
10:36It is definitely, I would say, a turning point for them.
10:42The visitors go on a tour to get to know the unfamiliar city.
10:45It takes in the 200-year-old University of Bonn, the Hofgarten, and, of course, there's Beethoven.
10:52This monument, erected in 1845, is a must-see on any tour and perfect for a photo.
10:58The tour ends at Beethoven's birth house, Bonn Gasse 20.
11:13This is where the composer spent his early years.
11:16Today it's a museum and meeting place of pilgrimage for music fans from all over the world.
11:20It houses original instruments, scores, and Beethoven's death mask.
11:27The Nigerian musicians are impressed by the enthusiasm for classical music in Europe.
11:33The reality in Nigeria is quite different.
11:35In Nigeria, it takes a lot of tenacity because the support system is in there.
11:42You don't have musical education in the school.
11:45They've really been extremely diligent.
11:47They've fought against the odds.
11:50Even being able to acquire an instrument, it's very tasking in an environment like Nigeria.
11:56And then finding the right educators.
11:59So it's not a straightforward process.
12:02It's easy to study classical music here.
12:05Because I feel everybody loves music here.
12:09The following morning, there's a dress rehearsal in the University Auditorium.
12:14The campus is breaking new ground this year, expanding musical boundaries with its mix of Afrobeat,
12:19European classical music, folk music from Nigeria and Germany, and Cassie Kinoshy's commissioned composition.
12:33The last few months of rehearsals have been an intense challenge for everyone.
12:38Everyone came prepared. Everyone had done their homework.
12:41So it was just fusing the ideas together.
12:44And the beautiful thing is that we felt safe and we felt seen and heard.
12:49There's a lot of respect there. Mutual respect.
12:55Finally, the big night is here.
12:58It's the moment they've all been waiting for and working toward for six months.
13:02There's a packed house for the campus concert.
13:07Can we get them into the Afrobeat together with colonial mentality?
13:11Okay, let's go.
13:14Let's go.
13:15Let's go.
13:16Let's go.
13:17Let's go.
13:18Let's go.
13:19Let's go.
13:38And in Bonn, too, the concert gets an enthusiastic response.
13:41The mixture of seriousness and lightness seems to have a contagious effect.
13:45Following this renewed success, the campus is moving on.
13:56One stop remains, a trip to the German capital.
14:00The Humboldt Forum in Berlin is a cultural center, event location, and ethnological museum all in one.
14:09The group gets a special guided tour.
14:11It's an important part of the program, as the museum has long been under fire for housing looted art from Nigeria.
14:18Some of the famous Benin bronzes, which became emblematic of colonial appropriation and its legacy, are still here.
14:25It was a huge debate in Germany, within Germany, and especially here at the Humboldt Forum,
14:30because the Humboldt Forum was very criticized for the exhibition with looted objects.
14:38And, I mean, the spearhead were the Benin bronzes.
14:41In 2022, Germany returned the ownership rights to the Benin bronzes to Nigeria.
14:46Some artifacts were returned, others remain on display, but are now officially on loan from Nigeria to the Berlin Museum.
14:54The exhibition now also tells this story.
14:57Reactions to the return vary.
14:58Yes, because it is Nigerians, no, because we might not be able to maintain it as much as it is maintained here, right?
15:07I was deeply touched by the fact that this works now belong to us Nigerians.
15:13It's been returned, literally, in terms of intellectual property and what have you not.
15:17So, it is something highly emotional for me.
15:22From the roof of the Humboldt Forum, there's a breathtaking view of Berlin and an installation by Nigerian artist Emeka Okpo.
15:31Voices singing a Nigerian song can be heard coming from loudspeakers.
15:34It becomes a farewell song at the end of a journey that was not only musical.
15:47My perspective has completely changed after the trip to Lagos.
15:52My worldview has simply expanded.
15:57I learned a lot about the country, the people, and the political conflicts.
16:05And this relaxed approach to making music, just going for it?
16:09I'll take this approach to music with me.
16:11Tonight, everyone will travel home.
16:23The campus project of the Beethoven Festival, the German Youth Orchestra and Deutsche Welle is coming to an end.
16:30A farewell song and a last shared moment.
16:41I'll follow you next time.
16:42See you soon.
17:00Bye.
17:00Bye.
17:01Bye.
17:09Bye.
17:09Bye.
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