Whoever took part in an IMF camp has had the experience of hospitality – friendship – beauty – awe.

All this was no result of an perfect organaisation but it developed out of a "Yes". A "Yes", which the first friends gave to each other in 1993. The "yes", that a lot of friends say, who we met everywhere this year. The "Yes", that which is inquired by all of us in times of the corona virus.

It is becoming clearer with every day that we need to reconsider our summer programmes. It will not be possible for us to come together. We will not be able to give big concerts.

We could now say goodbye and decide to cancel our IMF camps for this year, and wait for what is coming up in future. But friendship is not something you just put on hold.

So what can we do? And how can we do it?

Over the last months we had an exchange on the Meeting for Friendship among the Peoples, an event that has been taking place in Rimini every summer for 40 years. Thousands of people from all nations, religions and cultures meet there to share their experiences.

Culture, science, politics, arts, sports … and naturally MUSIC!

The friends of this meeting are also facing the challenge of the Coronavirus. They are working on a way to organise a different, a new way of encounter.

They invited the IMF to take part in the MEETING to tell our story, and show the whole world who we are. There is actually only one certainty we have, which is what one of our friends said, when she registered: “I do not know what will happen and how it will happen – but no matter what, I know, with you it will be beautiful!” This is our certainty: Every time we said “yes” to this friendship, something much bigger than we could have imagined happened.

This is why we commit ourselves to the IMF.

Far from each other we still work together, playing music together from our homes. This is a new way of coming together. We do not need to be in one place to be united, but we need to keep the same goal in view, looking at the same thing together.

What will we do?

A big orchestra and a big choir. Chamber ensembles. Live from our cities.

We will start to work on this as soon as possible, collective lessons and single lessons to rehearse the repertoire.
We will make recordings.

In August we will see, if we can meet in groups to play together and record the instrumental groups.

From August, 18 on, there will be daily broadcasts of the IMF at the Rimini meeting.
At twentysecond August we will have a concertevening, at which we present our work of Meeting Rimini.

We are ready! Are you coming along?