#Ode2Joy Challenge3

On the occasion of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, Europa Nostra and its President Maestro Plácido Domingo invite all citizens in Europe and beyond to contribute to the #Ode2Joy Challenge. Supported by Ambassadors such as the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), the Liszt Ferenc Music Academy in Budapest (Hungary) and the BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels (Belgium), this participatory initiative celebrates Europe through our shared cultural heritage. It seeks to unlock creativity and encourage participants to make an “#Ode2Europe” as a humanistic and cultural project, based on shared values, history & heritage.

Since it successfully kicked-off on 9 May 2018 – Europe Day-, already more than 100 reinterpretations from over 25 countries across Europe and beyond of the Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” – the European Anthem – have been filmed at heritage sites and shared via social media.

From renowned artists, famous choral ensembles, school orchestras and choirs, flashmobs, European policy-makers, to enthusiastic European citizens, they have all accepted the challenge! The participation of several European networks gave a particularly symbolic European dimension to the challenge, which also reached countries outside of the European Union and other continents through the large network of European delegations.

Video clips compiling a selection of “Ode to Joy” reinterpretations were shown during the European Heritage Awards Ceremony on 22 June in Berlin, which was co-hosted by Maestro Plácido Domingo and EU Commissioner Tibor Navracsics, in the presence of Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal President of Germany, and the 800 participants in the audience.

All contributions to the #Ode2Joy Challenge can be viewed via the dedicated YouTube playlist.

The challenge continues until 9 May 2019, symbolic day when EU leaders will discuss the future of the Union at a European Council held in Sibiu, Romania.

For more information, please visit the following link:
#Ode2Joy Challenge3