Carnegie Hall Announces ALL TOGETHER: A GLOBAL ODE TO JOY A Year-Long Project Marking Beethoven's 250th Anniversary

Creating music together can be a tremendously joyful act, binding people together in both times of celebration and moments of hardship. When Beethoven incorporated Friedrich Schiller's Ode to Joy poem into his Ninth Symphony, it was a radical call for equality, freedom, and brotherhood.

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, renowned conductor Marin Alsop will lead performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on five continents with nine acclaimed orchestras as part of All Together: A Global Ode to Joy, a far-reaching yearlong project running from December 2019 to December 2020. Reimagining Beethoven's Ninth as a twenty-first century call for unity, justice, and empowerment, community members will compose new music, boldly interpreting Ode to Joy's ideas in response to today's world and translating the text into local languages.

"Ode to Joy is about standing up and being counted in this world. It's about believing in our power as human beings," said Ms. Alsop. "Everyone will be tied together by this experience. And I think that's the important element-that through this project, we will bring diverse communities together, and communities who don't normally work together."

All Together: A Global Ode to Joy presents a rare opportunity for major musical institutions from around the world to unite in a single project. Each partner will reimagine the concert experience for their own community, incorporating newly-created music alongside the symphony and featuring artists from their own region. In each performance, Ode to Joy will be translated anew into a local language. Concerts will take place in São Paulo, Brazil; London, England; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; major centers of New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; Vienna, Austria; Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa; and New York, New York, USA.

"Creative learning projects have the power to inspire dialogue and bring communities together," said Clive Gillinson, Carnegie Hall's Executive and Artistic Director. "Through its global reach, this project has the potential to shine a light on all of the inspirational and imaginative work happening at partner institutions around the world, strengthen connections across continents, and present a truly unique and exciting take on Beethoven's Ode to Joy."

Carnegie Hall will present a final concert in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage on December 6, 2020. Rooted in the vibrancy of New York City and connecting to each of the global sites, it will feature performers of all ages and guest artists from across genres, backed by a 300-voice choir made up of singers from across the city.

In advance of the Carnegie Hall performance in December, New York City songwriters will join mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato for a celebratory concert in Zankel Hall on April 5, 2020, showcasing this new music. Around the world, other creative artists will present their own takes on what may be the most popular piece of classical music ever written.

"For me, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is a revolutionary piece. It's a piece that changed the history of classical music certainly, but it's a piece that also pushed the envelope," said Ms. Alsop. "That sense of rebellion and that sense of relevance has always struck me as being unique. Having an opportunity to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth by reimagining his symphony-I think he would have loved it."

Final concerts around the world will kick off in December 2019 and continue throughout the following year at venues in South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and North America:

São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
December 12, 2019

Exploring the legacy of slavery in Brazil during the nineteenth century and to this day, this performance will include traditional and contemporary music between the movements of Beethoven's symphony, and will feature a new translation of the Ode to Joy into Brazilian Portuguese. The final concert will be held outdoors at the iconic plaza of the Museum of Modern Art on Paulista Avenue in the heart of São Paulo.

London Southbank Centre
April 16, 2020

Crafted with young people from across Great Britain, a 250-strong choir will perform a new English interpretation of the famous text, created as part of a community writing project. Performed by Southbank Centre's Associate Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, along with young musicians from across London, more than 400 performers will fill the Royal Festival Hall stage.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
June 11 - 14, 2020

Featuring a new translation by Baltimore-based rapper and musician Wordsmith, this rendition will include a new arrangement of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a spiritual song written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson, in dialogue with Ode to Joy, a newly commissioned work by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, and interstitial music by artists from the rich musical community of Baltimore, in a concert led by BSO Music Director Marin Alsop.

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
July 26, 28, and August 1, 2020

The performances will include a translation into te reo Maori and newly commissioned pieces by New Zealand composers. Local youth and school choirs will join the orchestra to perform in several locations throughout New Zealand.

Sydney Symphony
August 7 - 9, 2020

These performances of Beethoven's Ninth will celebrate Australia's rich multicultural and indigenous heritage, with choristers drawn from Sydney's community choirs, and with music from Australia's First Nations.

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
October 16, 2020

New Chief Conductor Marin Alsop will lead the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's Ninth in the city in which it was first performed. The concert, to be held at Wiener Konzerthaus, will feature the children of Superar, an educational community initiative located in Vienna's Favoriten district, in dialogue with musicians from all over the world.

Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra
November 18 and 19, 2020

These performances will include soloists from the KwaZulu-Natal performance and a translation into Zulu.

KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra
November 22, 2020

This performance will include a translation into Zulu and members of the Township Choirs onstage with the orchestra.

Carnegie Hall
December 6, 2020

The culminating concert at Carnegie Hall will feature an orchestra comprising the finest players of tomorrow, backed by a 300-voice choir featuring singers of all ages from across New York City who will sing a new translation of the Ode to Joy by United States Poet Laureate, Tracy K. Smith.