Internationally acclaimed conductor Marin Alsop will lead the NZSO when it performs a te reo version of Beethoven's Ode to Joy. Photo/Grant Leighton
Beethoven's Ode to Joy will be sung in te reo Māori as part of an international musical celebration of the composer's 250th birthday next year.
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will join those in Brazil, Britain, the United States, Australia, Austria and South Africa in performing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with
the Ode to Joy segment sung in local languages.
School and youth choirs will perform in the NZ concerts, called Kia Kotahi: He Toirangi Ā-Ao Kia Harikoa, and new works by local artists reflecting the cultures of this country will also be included.
The worldwide project, All Together: A Global Ode to Joy, is the brainchild of the Carnegie Hall in New York. The NZSO has worked with American conductor Marin Alsop and the institution for the past year to be part of the project.
Alsop, a strong advocate for young people and diversity in the arts, will conduct every performance of the Ninth Symphony by each orchestra, including the NZSO's in July and August 2020.
