The record for the largest symphony orchestra has been broken in Frankfurt, beating the previous record set in Brisbane.

The world record for the largest symphony orchestra was broken in Germany on Saturday, with over 7500 musicians gathering in Frankfurt’s Commerzbank Arena.

The ensemble consisted of 7,548 amateur and professional musicians from Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, breaking a record previously held by a 7,224 member strong orchestra at the Queensland Music Festival in 2013, conducted by James Morrison. Before that, the largest orchestra had consisted of 6,452 musicians in Vancouver, Canada, in 2000.

^{James Morrison conducting the previous record-breaking orchestra in Queensland}

Conducted by Wolf Kerschek – who was projected onto a giant screen – the orchestra performed selections from Dvořak and Beethoven’s Ninth symphonies, including the Ode to Joy.

“I’ve never heard anything like this,” said Kerschek, “this dedication, to share this with so many people, I think it’s a very, very important statement.”

^{Wolf Kerschek and the record-breaking German orchestra}

While the Rekord-Institut für Deutschland (German Institute of Records) ruled the world record broken, they will know seek confirmation from Guinness World Records.

The project’s organiser Jens Illemann, a music teacher and trumpet player from Hamburg, said: “We wanted to show how music can connect people, and how important it is for Germany.”