HAMBURG, Germany — The stage of the Elbphilharmonie here on Wednesday was filled with an assembly of instruments so diverse that it looked more like a social experiment than a musical ensemble.

In the back row, Baroque recorders nestled up to an Afro-Brazilian percussion section. In front of them, a United Nations of string instruments congregated with violas da gamba, vihuelas, a harp and a potbellied kora from Mali, alongside an oud and a violin. The instrument’s masters — and the performances were uniformly masterly — were just as diverse, with singers from Brazil and Mexico, an early-music chorus from Spain, and Malian vocalists weaving their voices together into a scintillating musical tapestry.

The subject of the concert — the opening act in a festival dedicated to trans-Atlantic musical connections — was as harrowing as the sounds were joyful: “The Routes of Slavery” was the title of this evening of music, dance and recited texts designed to illuminate the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the musical cross-pollination it caused. At the center of it, though in typically self-effacing manner, was the Spanish gambist and early-music specialist Jordi Savall.

The Elbphilharmonie’s Transatlantik festival, which runs through Monday and includes presentations of blues, fado and Afro-Cuban jazz, is just one of several themed program clusters that have focused attention on musical experiences of and in the Americas.