!SING - A Metropolis Sings!
!SING-Stamp / Graphics: RUHR.2010/KNSK
Some people simply can't resist singing along to pop songs. For others its hymns, or it might be an operatic aria or the latest chart hit. !SING is a public programme for professional singers and amateurs alike. Anyone can join in. Everyone's voice counts. !SING will encourage people to raise their voice in song, either alone or together, and to listen to others' voices.
It stands for an entire network of initiatives, mediation projects, recitals, opera performances and choir concerts. !SING will resound with the origins of song. High-calibre events will take their place alongside community projects. It will fill a gap in conductor training, invite audiences to evening recitals, and network orchestras, choirs and operatic ensembles from the Ruhr Metropolis. Projects in the !SING series range from an exploration of polyphony and the "musica enchiriadis" to the largest multi-part vocal concert in recent memory, the !SING - DAY OF SONG.
"A good sing washes the dust from one's heart." Of this, Christoph Lehmann, writer and chronicler of the Imperial town of Speyer around 1600, was convinced. Two centuries later, Goethe noted that no country had such a widespread feeling for music, song and singing as Germany. And today? Is it actually true that whole generations no longer sing, even though some 270,000 people are members of approximately 3,300 choirs in North Rhine-Westphalia?
A look at other nations reveals the extent to which Germany has become a developing country in terms of singing as part of the day-to-day culture. But what is inhibiting us from seeing singing as an elixir and breaking out spontaneously into song? Why the reticence, the fearful reservations? !SING gets to the bottom of the well-worn excuses.
The historical experience of the Nazi regime taught the Germans how singing, and choral singing in particular, can be systematically abused as a propaganda and manipulation tool. The collective fatigue of singing by decree has meant that, today, many Germans still have a vehement dislike of singing as a community activity. Through !SING, the Ruhr region seeks to inspire a renaissance in Germany's culture of singing. After all, singing is an important source of identity, as revealed by a number of excellent examples. For instance, the period of national movements in the Baltic States from 1987 to 1992 and the fight for the restoration of independence is known as the "Singing Revolution".
!SING too sees itself as a music-based citizens' movement. By calling upon people to !SING, the programme aims to restore singing as an integral part of people's daily lives. It's all about enjoying your own voice - in different ways, through different genres, in new settings and across generational boundaries. The events span every style: classical, pop, folk music, jazz and spiritual works.
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!sing
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!SING - DAY OF SONG