15 July 2020
Kahchun Wong leads ‘Beeth∞ven 360°’ in the composer’s 250th anniversary year World’s first immersive digital performance of ‘Ode to Joy’, connecting the world amid the pandemic together through music with an international cast of over 1,000
On International Friendship Day (30 July), a ground-breaking musical celebration of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday anniversary will be premiered on The Straits Times FaceBook and Youtube channels. This revolutionary virtual performance of music from his 9th Symphony is literally pieced together with digital submissions from world-class instrumentalists and singers of institutions including the Chicago Symphony, Dresden Boys Choir, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Japan Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Nuremberg Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo.
They are joined by more than 1,000 participants of an inclusive global community campaign, for a sing- along in the renowned “Ode to Joy” segment. This inter-generational bridging of professional musicians and committed amateurs from 25 nations extends the yearly German-Singaporean open air-concert ‘Beethoven im Garten’ into the digital space for 2020 to forge bonds between Asia, Europe and beyond, at a time when these are hampered by social distancing efforts worldwide.
The virtual performance is optimised for smartphones and tablets through the Youtube/Facebook apps. Laptops and computers can also access the video. More than 2000 man-hours have been spent on score preparation, the individual recordings and post-production, to create a powerful visual and aural experience for the viewer. The musicians are integrated into a 360° experiential landscape depicting turmoil, a dream of utopia, a garden city paradise, heavenly clouds and finally the cosmic world, which accompanies the musical narrative from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
Kahchun Wong explains his motivation behind the project: “Covid-19 has led to social distancing of people and nations. During such dire times, music must continue to play on. Music can inspire hope and beauty. It is an international language that transcends physical barriers. Today, we are endowed with 21st century technology that allows us to be connected and to connect with our audience, without the need to congregate in the same physical space. I am grateful to my musical friends and colleagues who have responded and contributed so generously to this project. Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, with its message of inclusivity, diversity and universal brotherhood, conveys exactly our feelings of united hope and global solidarity. I am humbled to be a part of this international musical kampong.”
Prof. Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adds: “Maestro Kahchun Wong is a national treasure. Singaporeans are very proud that he is the Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. We also admire his ambition to share the joy of western classical music with disadvantaged kids. Kahchun is using music to connect the peoples of Singapore and Germany and the peoples of Asia and those of Europe. Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and the ‘Ode to Joy’ is loved by the world. I look forward to the inspiring concert on 30 July 2020.” Mrs Rosa Daniel, Deputy Secretary (Culture) in the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and CEO of the National Arts Council Singapore says: “In these challenging times, the arts and culture play an important role to uplift spirits, connect communities in Singapore and internationally, even as we are physically apart. We have witnessed the resilience, creativity and innovation of artists in Singapore and globally, with many harnessing technology and digitalisation to reach audiences in exciting new ways. We hope everyone will enjoy this innovative virtual performance led by Kahchun Wong and the international music community, which will truly bring #SGCultureAnywhere to audiences worldwide.”
Roderich Kreile, who is leading the Dresden Kreuzchor (Choir in the Church of the Holy Cross) as its 28th Kreuzkantor (director of the choir), on the cooperation with Wong: ‘Beethoven 360°’ demonstrates, how the ongoing crisis contributes to creating new, great works. All of us at Dresdner Kreuzchor are glad to be part of this innovative project. For our ‘Crucians’ – as our choir members are called – it has been a completely new concert experience with world-class musicians across borders. They witnessed how music can be made jointly even in the digital sphere. If the audience cannot join us, we will join the audience - on their smartphones and laptops. Beethoven’s 9th has a clear vision which we all long for: to get together once again for a concert in the Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross) here in Dresden or at a tour performance.”
Dr Ulrich A. Sante, German Ambassador to Singapore, who established ‘Beethoven im Garten’ with Wong in 2018 explains: “At a time when both of our countries are battling a common threat, Kahchun Wong has created a digital experience that will be a moment of uplifting and hope, that we can manage to overcome by orchestrating our efforts. Wong has lived up once again to his role as ‘Musical Ambassador’. Although Schiller’s lines ‘Seid umschlungen Millionen’ (‘Be embraced millions’) cannot be put into practice now, his kampong creates an impressive musical get-together that connects our hearts and souls reinvigorating the classic ideal of a society of people of equal rights that are connected by the bond of joy and friendship. Initially we had intended to turn to an ASEAN-EU-format with the ‘Ode to Joy’-tune of the European anthem this year, as Germany is currently holding the EU-Presidency. CoViD-19 forced us to make a virtue of necessity and the digital space will now allow us to bring even more people together - on a national, regional and even global level.”
Arkadiusz Czopor, Managing Director of T-Systems South Asia, whose company is supporting the project as platinum sponsor, underscores the company’s commitment: “Covid-19 has severely interrupted connections and caused a humanity crisis not seen in a very long time. Our company’s businesses are all about connectivity. ‘Beethoven im Garten’ builds links with technology that allows us to re-connect via the beauty of Beethoven’s music. We could in hindsight, easily identify with the project and hope, that the project offers also a small token of relief to musicians in Singapore and beyond at a time, when artists worldwide are struggling with the effects of the pandemic. We also feel a strong connection to Beethoven’s anniversary as our parent company - Deutsche Telekom, celebrates its 25th anniversary this same year. And by the way, Deutsche Telekom is based in the city of Bonn, the same city where Beethoven was born.”
Beethoven im Garten 2020: Beeth∞ven 360° enjoys the funding support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the National Arts Council Singapore, The Straits Times, and sponsors T-Systems, Capitaland and ST Engineering from Singapore and Allianz, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, Herrenknecht and Volkswagen from Germany, as well as Great World Serviced Apartments. Beethoven im Garten 2020 is presented by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in partnership with the Foundation for The Arts and Social Enterprise. It is the first cooperative project of this kind by a foreign embassy with Singaporean cultural institutions since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. It is also part of the #SGCultureAnywhere campaign bringing together the best of Singapore’s arts and culture digital offerings, to be enjoyed and experienced anytime and anywhere.
An 8-min excerpt from the performance can be seen on the virtual edition of annual charity concert ‘ChildAid’ on 15 Jul at 8 pm, organized by The Straits Times and The Business Times. This additionally adds on a tangible contribution to the Singaporean community, supporting student beneficiaries of The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and The Business Times Budding Artists Fund.
For further questions, interview requests etc., please get in touch with Heinrich Hubbe at [email protected] +65 8661 4667 or [email protected] (Press Attaché, German Embassy Singapore). - More - Background
On the “Beethoven im Garten” concert series The open-air-concerts at Singapore Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site are a yearly Singaporean-German friendship event jointly jointly established by Kahchun Wong and the German Ambassador to Singapore, Dr. Ulrich A. Sante, in 2018. Musicians from both countries engage in a musical and cultural dialogue, playing side by side for an audience consisting of thousands of heartlanders, many of whom are enjoying classical music for the first time.
The Foundation for The Arts and Social Enterprise is a strategic partner of ‘Beethoven im Garten’ as the series aligns with its overarching goal of promoting Singapore as a global arts hub and transforming Singapore from a First World Economy to a First World Society.
Beeth∞ven 360° - Orchestra, Soloists and Singers The core of the orchestra of more than 60 individuals drawn from Nuremberg Symphony and from Singapore, and musicians from world class orchestras including New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Munich Philharmonic, China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra and more summing up to 36 orchestras worldwide.
The four soloists are professional opera singers based in Germany while the main choral parts are presented by The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo, Dresdner Kreuzchor and members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir. Dresdner Kreuzchor is the boys’ choir of Kreuzkirche in Dresden, Germany. It has a history of seven centuries and is renowned world-wide. Today, the choir has about 150 members - also known as “Kruzianer” between the ages of 9 and 19, from Dresden and the surrounding region.
About the ‚Beeth∞ven Sing-along campaign’ and participating musicians This year’s Beethoven im Garten was preceded by a worldwide Ode to Joy sing-along campaign kicked- off on 7 May 2020, commemorating the first performance of the symphony in 1824. Members of the global community were invited to submit videos of themselves singing along to a ‘Ode to Joy’ excerpt.
To make the campaign more accessible, creative presentations of Ode to Joy were encouraged that could include simple whistling or humming. More than a 1000 people representing over 20 countries and all age groups took part, some of them making use of ethnic instruments, beer bottles turned into improvised instruments, dressed in a particular ‘Beethoven look’, in the form of a Japanese dance or simply as a family get-together. All of these 45-sec entries are pieced together to form a virtual choir representing the idea of the symphony’s core idea of universal brotherhood. The campaign was named #Beethooven with the ‘oo’ as a reference to the infinity symbol ∞, representing the sum of our collective hearts resonating.
About Kahchun Wong Wong is the first Asian Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. His international career took off after he won “The Mahler Competition”, also known as the Olympic games of conducting, with close to 400 contestants. Since then, he has been invited to conduct renowned orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir, China Philharmonic and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
In December 2019, Wong became the youngest Singaporean and the first artist from Singapore to be conferred the Order of Merit by the Federal President of Germany, for his dedicated service and outstanding achievements in Singaporean-German cultural relations and the advancement of German music culture abroad. In Singapore, Wong is the recipient of the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship (Public Service Commission), Young Artist Award and the Singapore Youth Award. He is a graduate of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin.
In Nuremberg, Wong also leads in subscription concerts at the Meistersingerhalle, international tours and the annual “Klassik Open Air”, one of the world's largest outdoor classical music events with more than 50,000 live audience and has been broadcast on BR-Klassik and Channel 3SAT.
On "Ode to Joy” and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony The Ode was written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright and historian Friedrich Schiller. When Beethoven set to add music to the text by Friedrich Schiller in the finale of his Symphony, the human voice was included for the first time in a symphonic work. His tune was adopted as “Anthem of Europe” in 1972.
Over the years, people all over the world have referred to the Ode at challenging times and as a celebration of music. Chinese students broadcast it at Tiananmen Square. It was performed on Christmas day after the fall of the Berlin Wall and at Daiku (number Nine) concerts in Japan every year and after the 2011 tsunami.
In 2001, UNESCO included the original score of the symphony in the Register Memory of the World.
On Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) Ludwig van Beethoven is the most frequently performed classical composer in the world and one of the most important ambassadors for European culture. His works belong to the cultural heritage of humanity. Interest in his music has remained unabated for centuries and has become a global phenomenon. Beethoven is ubiquitous and perennially modern. In 2020, the entire world celebrates the 250th anniversary of his birth. Many celebratory concerts around the world have been cancelled due to the pandemic. ‘Beethoven im Garten’ provides an alternative avenue for music lovers to be a part of his commemoration.
Beethoven created musical universes and seminal works that traverse the limits of human imagination in his day and left a lasting imprint on music history. His music is visionary and reflects European society in a state of upheaval. It thus far transcends its original context and points the way to modernism. His works lend a voice to an unbridled will toward social change, loftiest humanism, freedom of the arts and social utopias, all of which have laid claim to universal validity to the present day.
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