The spa town of Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, one of the wealthiest towns in Germany, has got a brand-new orchestra. Founded by conductor and organist Marius Beckmann, the British German Philharmonic Orchestra (BGPO) plays its first concert on 16 February.
Its new home will be the Kurtheater in Bad Homburg. The opening concert programme includes Milkos Rozsa’s Ben Hur, George Dyson’s At the Tabard Inn and Ravel’s Ma mère l’ Oye.
“The aim is to enrich the German orchestral landscape with a young, dynamic orchestra through a tremendous ‘English’ orchestral sound,” states BGPO on its website. “We are connected by music and an interest in discovering new music that has never before been played.”
The orchestra plans to a play a total of 10 concerts in and around Bad Homburg in 2018. So far seven have been announced, including a night of film music on 3 May, a summer concert on 30 June and a night of ‘unknown composers’ on 16 November.
It intends to offer a programme, “far away from the conventional classical music programme and thus to reach an audience who are looking for something new in the music business.” This means its repertoire could include pop and rock music as well as symphonic jazz.
After the initial 2018 season, Beckmann says he will “then decide whether the orchestra has arrived as an institution in the Rhine-Main area.”
