The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Great Britain has completed its 2026 Kosmos & Orchester European tour, bringing an ambitious collaboration to the stage through original composition, cinematic visuals and live storytelling.
Spanning ten concerts across three countries, the tour culminated in a sold-out finale at Stadtcasino Basel on 21st October. For Rare, it marks the first major project within our partnership with the orchestra - and a tangible expression of our shared ambition to create new possibilities for orchestral performance.
Bringing the creative vision to life
Kosmos brought together conductor and co-composer Robert Emery, astrologer and presenter Silke Schäfer, and composer and percussionist Moritz Schneider.
Music written especially for the production by Schneider and Emery provided its foundation. Performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Great Britain under Emery’s direction, the score accompanied a production combining visual imagery, narration and meditation, with Schäfer contributing an astrological and spiritual perspective.
The programme moved between reflective passages and expansive cinematic writing, drawing on the orchestra’s ability to communicate through changes in texture, rhythm and scale.
Writing original music for a production creates a particular kind of opportunity. The score can develop alongside the storytelling, giving composers, performers and the wider creative team a shared language from the outset.
For us, that is one of the most compelling possibilities of orchestral collaboration: giving exceptional musicians the space to help shape a distinctive experience around a strong creative idea.
Returning to where the project began
The closing concert returned Kosmos to Stadtcasino Basel, where its first performances took place on 16 August 2025. The sold-out October finale was also offered as a livestream, extending access beyond the concert hall.
That return connected the project’s beginnings with the completion of its international tour. Between those moments sits the work required to develop an original concept into a production that can travel: composition, rehearsal, technical planning and the coordination of creative teams.
The musicians and production crews make that progression possible. Their contribution gives an ambitious idea the consistency and care it needs to become a live experience, performed in different venues for different audiences.
An orchestra willing to explore
For Robert Emery, the orchestra’s appetite for new directions has long been central to its appeal. On his appointment as Music Director in 2022, he said: “They constantly strive to be an inventive, modern orchestra for the world we live in.”
Kosmos gives that outlook a concrete expression. It places orchestral musicianship within a collaboration spanning original composition, visual production and live presentation.
It also opens a broader creative question: what can an orchestra make possible when it helps shape an experience from the beginning?
An orchestra brings an extraordinary range of expressive choices to a project. A passage can become intimate through the voice of a single instrument, then gather weight as the ensemble joins it. Those possibilities give composers and collaborators a rich language for building atmosphere and carrying a story.
Exploring that potential is central to our interest in the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Great Britain.
Why the partnership matters to Rare
As Rare Entity number five, the orchestra forms part of our wider work across music, sport, entertainment and culture. Our partnership focuses on creating distinctive intellectual property, developing new formats and expanding the possibilities for orchestral music to reach audiences.
That thinking reflects Rare’s wider approach to building around creativity. Dom Joseph, Co-Founder of Rare Entity, said: “Rare is building a new operating system for culture, where creativity comes first and exceptional businesses follow.”
For this partnership, the starting point is the creative work itself. Original music and a clear artistic identity provide a foundation; the task is to give those ideas the support they need to develop, find audiences and establish lasting value.
Kosmos offers a practical example of that process. It brought collaborators from different disciplines together around a recognisable concept and developed that concept into an international live production.
Its significance for Rare lies in seeing the partnership expressed through work that audiences could experience for themselves.
Building on the tour
Completing Kosmos provides a body of work and experience to build on. It gives Rare and the orchestra a foundation for considering how future collaborations can develop, how different formats can serve the music, and how original productions can create further opportunities for performers and composers.
We thank Robert Emery, Silke Schäfer, Moritz Schneider, the musicians of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Great Britain, and the production teams and audiences who made the tour possible.
The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Great Britain. Crafted with RARE Entity.
