The European Choral Association, the German Music Council as patron of the Bundesjugendchor and the German Embassy in Brussels and are cooperating for a concert and reception in Brussels on May 10th 2024 :
- public concert “Pax – Choirs in Movement” with the Bundesjugendchor
on Friday, May 10th 2024 at 19:30 CET in the Église Notre-Dame des Victoires du Sablon
Rue des Sablons/Zavelstraat, 1000 Brussels (admission free) - upon invitation only: reception hosted by the European Choral Association
With this reception the European Choral Association wants to underline the importance of collective singing and its benefits and the involvement of the association with auditioned youth choirs on national, European and international level.
SING FOR SOLIDARITY AND PEACE
The European Choral Association was created in Germany in 1963, a few days after the signature of the French-German Elysée contract. The founding fathers were mostly choir conductors who had been soldiers in World War II and who believed in organising festivals for youth choirs where their young singers would sing together (and not just for each other), and spend their free time together so that they would no longer wish to go to war against the countries where they had found many new friends.
60 years later, the idea to use music as a tool to promote tolerance and mutual understanding and the wish for peace is as important as ever, especially in view of the new wars of the past years. The German National Youth Choir Bundesjugendchor under the direction of Anne Kohler therefore decided to choose the topic of peace for its spring programme 2024, combining well-known compositions such as Hanns Eisler’s “Gegen den Krieg“ and Arnold Schönberg’s “Friede auf Erden”, with less-known works mostly from different European countries from the 15th to the 21st century, up to a commissioned work by young German composer Elisabeth Fusseder (*2000), and adding movements designed by choreographer Gabriel Galindez Cruz. Listening to this special programme, on invitation of the German Embassy in Brussels, just 2 days after the celebrations for the end of World War II on May 8th and one day after the Day of Europe on May 9th will further strengthen the message.