The year 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the ethnical cleansing of the Armenians in the Osman Empire. This genocide, still denied by the Turkish authorities, demonstrates in a horrific way the Ottoman Empire’s adaptation to Western modernity, spearheaded by the Young Turks. To gather and imprison people in camps, not because of what they have done, but because of who they are is, after all, a modern notion. A notion realised not too long ago during the Balkan Wars and nowadays under the terroristic regime of the IS in Syria and Iraq. The Armenians use the word Aghet (Catastrophe) to describe what happened during World War 1 in Eastern Anatolia. Yet to this day there exists no common memory in the official dealings between Turkey and Armenia, nor, for that matter, beyond those two countries. Under the title “Aghet” we will make the Armenian Genocide the starting point and theme of a musical project that also poses the question how we deal with the alien and minority groups nowadays. Musically the symphonic concert project, which will be realised with partners in Dresden, Istanbul, Yerevan, Belgrade and Madrid, will be based on compositions and commissioned works by Armenian composer Vache Sharafian, as well as by a Turkish and a German composer, Zeynep Gedizlioglu and Helmut Oehring. The three orchestras involved consist of musicians from fourteen European countries and will be complemented by six soloists from Armenia and Turkey and a vocal ensemble. Parts of the rehearsals will be conducted via Internet and with support of the audio-streaming software Soundjack. Saved expenses can be invested into more concerts and artist’s mobility.In the face of 100 years of silence and the failure of any form of understanding we will test new formats of mediation and dialogue. More than ever before will we involve the musicians as authors in the creation of workshops and panels that will be developed alongside and in close interaction with the artistic presentation.