The Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra plays a diversity of music, stretching from Granada to Baghdad and embracing a variety of periods and styles – from the rich Arab-Andalusian tradition to mystical Middle-Eastern music, and from the refined improvisational music of the Arab world to the folk music of the Maghreb.

The Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra (AAO) was founded in 2011 with the aim of connecting the artistic and cultural heritage of Al-Andalus with the present. The AAO not only brings this music back to Europe, but combines it with stories (both time-honoured and self-written), poems, and theatre. The eloquence of the music and the stories behind it are – in artistic and cultural terms – the connection between past and present. The exceptional Al-Andalusian repertoire has earned the AAO a unique place in Amsterdam’s cultural scene, both with its own productions and through a range of collaborations with other artists. Over the past decade this has helped us reach a diversity of audiences, both at home and abroad.

The versatility of AAO musicians has also expanded Amsterdam’s musical network – for ten years now, the AAO has been made up of musicians from both the Netherlands and abroad. Over the years, the orchestra has worked with renowned musicians from all genres, from Arab (Marcel Khalife and Sami Yusuf), to jazz (Metropole Orchestra), and flamenco (Estrella Morente).