Orchestra for the Earth
Hundreds of singers worldwide are to unite virtually to raise hope for the planet with a performance Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony this Saturday.
400 singers from the Self-Isolation Choir will join Orchestra for the Earth to perform Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’, raising money for Rewilding Europe. The performance will be introduced by Christiana Figueres, architect of the landmark UN Paris Agreement in 2015, who champions the climate optimism the performance hopes to inspire.
The singers, orchestral musicians, and soloists from SANSARA choir will rehearse and perform entirely virtually over YouTube.
‘One of my favourite rewilding areas is the Danube Delta’, says Frans Schepers, Managing Director of Rewilding Europe, ‘and of course the Danube is also the river that flows through Vienna, which was adopted by Beethoven as his home town.’
The Newest Challenge for Europeâs Parks: A Surge of New Nature Lovers
Lockdown-weary city dwellers across the continent are visiting parks and other protected areas for the first time, overwhelming staff and generating pleas for more support.
Many European parks, among them, Parc National des Ecrins in France (above), rely on volunteers to augment staffing needs, but this year there were fewer volunteers because of the pandemic.Credit.Getty Images
By Paige McClanahan
Published Dec. 10, 2020Updated Dec. 18, 2020
Lockdown-weary Europeans have sought out nature in record-breaking numbers this year, putting sudden and substantial pressure on national parks and other natural areas across the continent.