The banjo has a much bigger story than most country music histories would have you believe. And Rhiannon Giddens is bringing that story to Hamburg.

From November 25 through 29, the Grammy-winning musician, composer and banjo player will take over Germany's Elbphilharmonie for Reflektor, a five-day festival featuring nine concerts and a remarkable gathering of artists.

But Giddens isn't simply assembling an impressive lineup. She's connecting the musical traditions that helped shape America, including some that have been pushed to the margins of its history.

The Banjo Has a Story to Tell

For Giddens, the banjo has always been more than an instrument associated with bluegrass and Appalachian folk.

Its history reaches back to Africa, with enslaved Black musicians developing early American versions of the instrument from African traditions. That history became central to Giddens' work, first with the Carolina Chocolate Drops and later through her solo projects, collaborations and compositions.

On November 26, she'll explore those connections in Juba Zinga Jubilee: Bringing Early Banjo Music Back Home, alongside Francesco Turrisi, Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu and percussionist Éamonn Cagney.

It's one of the clearest expressions of what this festival is about: hearing familiar American sounds with a better understanding of where they came from.

One Musical History, Many Voices

The festival opens November 25 with Giddens and longtime collaborator Francesco Turrisi moving between American folk, Italian traditions, Baroque music and spirituals.

Two nights later, members of the Silkroad Ensemble join her for Omar and Lucy, featuring music from her Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Omar and the ballet Black Lucy and the Bard.

The connections stretch further throughout the weekend.

Pianist Lara Downes highlights overlooked American composers in Finding Home, while Giddens brings together international guests for The People Could Fly, an exploration of African influences and musical traditions across continents.

Louis Michot and Leyla McCalla bring Louisiana's Cajun and Creole traditions into the conversation, while Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita offers another musical perspective from across the Atlantic.

The festival closes November 29 with Sanctuary, performed by the Silkroad Ensemble under Giddens' artistic direction.

A Different Way to Hear America

The festival belongs to the Elbphilharmonie's USA 250 program, marking the United States' 250th anniversary through music.

And Giddens seems an especially fitting artist for the occasion.

Her work has long challenged the idea that American musical traditions developed separately, neatly divided into genres or communities.

In Hamburg, those connections become the main event.

For a festival about American music, looking beyond America's borders turns out to be a pretty good place to start.