2008 has been nominated Year of Song: the project is large-scale and wide-ranging – and is supported by among others the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and the Danish broadcasting corporation DR. Year of Song 2008 is a nationwide project whose aim is to turn the focus on singing, to get Danes to sing again, to strengthen integration and protect the cultural heritage represented by Danish song and community singing. The major task of the Secretariat is to present and inform the public about all the measures related to song in 2008. Year of Song 2008 is also organizing events, including the big opening concert on 21st January 2008.

Song as unity
In YEAR OF SONG 2008 there will be a special focus on children and young people. Studies have shown that music enhances learning abilities and strengthens social skills, so there is every reason to nourish our children with song and music. Among the 7-15-year-olds, 90% are interested in and listen to music every day – but just under 13% engage in playing music and singing, and the tradition of community singing is on its way out. The old family heirlooms of our singing heritage have to be polished up, but we also have to find new ways of engaging in community singing, and we must give a boost to creative lyricists and young songwriters who can write songs that speak to children and young people today. Among other things YEAR OF SONG, in collaboration with primary and secondary schools, will reintroduce morning assembly with singing as a good way of starting the day.

Singing is healthy, sociable and fun
Singing is a way of communicating, a way of being together, a way of uniting – and finally a way of understanding one another and oneself. And in the final analysis singing can make us better people in a democratic society. In 2008 we will be focusing on singing – and on singing together. We will be doing it so strikingly and powerfully that YEAR OF SONG will not just stop; it will be followed by a more permanent ‘Urge to Sing’ fund.

Song as diversity
Danish song isn’t only ‘a young blonde girl’ as the old ditty has it – today she is also raven-haired, curly and ageless – but she still has a beautiful voice. What does a Turkish mother sing for her child at bedtime, do we know what the Somali boys are rapping about in the playground, and can the song at morning assembly in school be Kurdish?

The diversity that the foreign cultures bring with them to this country offer exciting possibilities for creating a shared treasury of song. With song we can engage in dialogue across different cultures. Music is the way forward that can encourage integration in the encounter with other voices. In the course of 2008 there will be a focus on song as an aid to integration through musical dialogue events – concerts, debates, releases and publications that gather music and song from different cultures in one and the same place. YEAR OF SONG 2008 will centre on song as a shared language that helps people from different cultures understand one another better.

The opening concert
Year of Song 2008 is about getting all Danes to sing again and sing together – and it’s about all types of song – pop/rock, classical, ethnic, jazz etc. Song gives us a sense of community and thus also greater understanding of one another. And that is exactly why we want the opening concert to present the public with as broad a palette of song as possible. There will be everything from ethnic choirs and the prisoner’s choir from Vridsløselille Prison to school classes taking the lead in community singing. There will be well known soloists, and Martin Brygmann will sing the official Year of Song song for the first time. The concert will have a special focus on community singing, there will be a well known host – very likely from DR’s P3 – and it will all be broadcast live on DR’s P2.

Right now we are working with a section of the concert where various artists will offer their versions of song and culture; for example Isam B will sing “In DK I was born”, Dario Campeotto will sing Italian songs, Teitur will sing a Danish or Faroese song, Herborg Kråkevik will sing a Norwegian song, the Danish National Girls’ Choir/DR will sing a Chinese song, Anita Lerche will sing Indian, the Papaya Choir will sing African etc. Cultures as well as musical genres will be mixed. Most of the above artists have agreed to participate, others are being engaged discussions. We are also planning for the artists to perform another number in the concert, and we are working with the idea of the concert ending with Martin Brygmann teaching the participants and the audience the new Year of Song song so it can all end with community singing.

Find the concert calender and read more at the SANGENS ÅR website (in Danish only).

This text has been provided by SANGENS ÅR.