“BAM is back” – Serviceplan Campaign makes dust dance for Bamberg Symphony

The last few months have been very challenging for cultural institutions, including the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra whose concert hall was also empty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused the season to come to a different end than planned. But now, post-lockdown in Germany and observing all necessary hygiene regulations – music can be played again in the concert hall of this iconic orchestra, which is a cultural hub of the German city of Bamberg. To creatively celebrate the reopening of the new season on 17 September, Serviceplan Campaign has produced a video for the Bamberg Symphony’s social media communication under the claim “BAM is back”. The film features music playing in the empty concert hall,  which causes the dust that accumulated during the quiet months of lockdown to dance.

Instead of the sounds of the orchestra and thousands of spectators, only silence filled the concert hall of the Bamberg Symphony during the last few months of lockdown imposed due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. Now, thanks to a specially designed and tested safety and hygiene concept, it is possible for the orchestra to resume playing on 17 September, taking into account all legal requirements. The claim “BAM is back” is the expression of all these concepts, preparations and measures.

Marcus Rudolph Axt, Chief Executive of the Bamberg Symphony commented: “In the video ‘BAM is back’, which is creatively developed and realized by Serviceplan Campaign, we would like to make an artistic statement that deals with the current situation of the cultural industry. It testifies to the long silence of recent months and also to the desire to overcome this silence and to be able to play live for an audience again. With ‘BAM is back’ we celebrate music, our return and considerateness and want to welcome people back to the place that has missed them for so long.”

Alexander Nagel, Creative Managing Partner at Serviceplan Campaign: “The film arose from the idea that dust had settled in our concert halls during the pandemic because nothing could take place there anymore. For us, this dust was a symbol of coming to a standstill, which we wanted to transform into a symbol of a new beginning. For this, we let the dust dance to the first sounds that the Bamberg Symphony played again.”

The video “BAM is back” was directed by Emilia Möbus, shot post-lockdown in July while observing Covid-19 safety regulations, , and produced by LeHof Media, the Animations were created by Aixsponza.

It is released on the Bamberg Symphony’s Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels. Watch the video here.

Serviceplan Campaign has been working for the Bamberg Symphony since the spring of 2019 and has, among other things, already produced the image film “The Sound of Bamberg Symphony”, which introduces “BAM” as part of the DNA of the Bamberg Symphony and stands for Bamberg as a city as well as for sound, internationality and the wow-effect.

Bamberger Symphony, acclaimed as Bavaria’s best concert hall, is a cultural institution in Bamberg, a UNESCO World Heritage City.  The Bamberg Symphony was established in 1946 and is an extraordinary orchestra in an extraordinary city.

CREDITS:

Serviceplan Campaign:
Alexander Nagel (Creative Managing Partner)
Emilia Möbus (Director/Idea)
Hendrik Haupt (Idea)
Jonas Herr (Account Management)
Jonas Menze (Art)

3D Artists:
Alvaro Moreira
Manuel Klein
Sebastian Kowalski

Compositing:
Tobias Müller

The Bamberg Symphony is an exceptional orchestra in an exceptional city. Bamberg without its symphony orchestra would be a city that lacked something essential. Because almost 10% of the local population are subscribers to the orchestra. And yet, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra is much more than that: it is one of the most well-travelled orchestras in Germany. With more than 7,000 concerts in over 500 cities and 63 countries, the Bavarian State Philharmonic Orchestra has become the cultural ambassador of all of Germany

Since September 2016, Jakub Hrůša is chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. With him they celebrate their 75th birthday this season.