From April 24–26, 2026, the Trickster Orchestra brought together post-migrant contemporary music in one place for the very first time — a scene situated at the intersection of global instruments and genres. Deutschlandfunk looks back on a “place of exhilarating excellence: musically outstanding and sociologically inspiring!”

The artistic directors and composers Cymin Samawatie and Ketan Bhatti were awarded the German Music Authors’ Award 2023 by GEMA.

Das Trickster Orchestra bringt Vielstimmigkeit, Experiment und Diversität von Besetzungen, Arbeitsmethoden und Spielweisen in die Erarbeitung und Aufführungspraxis der zeitgenössischen Kunstmusik ein. So ergründen wir, wie das zeitgenössische Musikgeschehen dekolonisiert werden kann.

In 2022, the Trickster Orchestra received the German Jazz Award for Best Large Ensemble and the TONALi Award “Courage for Utopia” in contemporary music.

Am 13. März 2021 wurde das Trickster Orchestra anlässlich seines ersten Album-Release im „Atelier neuer Musik“ im Deutschlandfunk porträtiert. Die komplette Sendung gibt’s hier zum Nachlesen.

Kategorien durchziehen unser Denken – auch in der zeitgenössischen Musik. Aber was wäre, wenn wir wirklich divers denken und hören? Dazu hat das Trickster Orchestra mit Kübra Gümüsay, Max Czollek und Jessie Cox beim Outernational Symposium SPALTEN TEILEN diskutiert.

In the Trickster Podcast, members and friends of the orchestra discuss topics related to post-migrant society and contemporary music.

For the premiere of their new concert series “Disturbing the Universal,” the Trickster Orchestra and dramaturg Elisa Erkelenz presented a new daring experiment between thought, spoken word, and music: the Outernational Listening Session.

The Trickster Orchestra’s dramaturg, Elisa Erkelenz, and our artistic co-director, Ketan Bhatti, in conversation with Julian Stahl about outernational music and the dominance of white music in our concert halls.

Mimesis hat viele Gesichter. So lautet schon der Titel einer Konferenz und eines folgenden Sammelbands von 2018 zu westgriechischem Kulturerbe: The Many Faces of Mimesis. Diese Mehrdeutigkeit des Begriffs, der Praxis und der Resultate mimetischer Prozesse macht ein Ensemble wie das Trickster Orchestra neugierig.

In the impressive visual setting at Berlin’s Museum for Islamic Art, the jazz quartet Cyminology premiered their piece Mshatta Echoes, an adaptation of the 8th century Islamic Mshatta Facade. A concert between architecture, poetry, music, and the entanglements of times, places, and artistic languages.

Cymin and Ketan met with the young initiative Kultur öffnet Welten to speak about cultural diversity and the appeal of making liminal music in-between genres and cultures. The podcast is available on spotify and soundcloud.

The music magazine VAN Outernational joined Trickster Orchestra’s first album recording session at Meistersaal Berlin! Philipp Rhensius wrote an exclusive sneak peek including video interviews by Florian Schmuck and photos by Silke Weinsheimer.

Some projects that are based on a dialogue between artists, languages, cultures, and different forms of art can really inspire you as an artist, give urge to create more eagerly, add a new eye, and make you believe in your artistic efforts again.

Cymin Samawatie received the German World Music Award Ruth. The jury stated that “Cymin Samawatie is among the most creative musicians of the German ethno-jazz scene.”

What happens when we let go of our traditions? We become new ones. This becoming has everything to do with the letting go.