The musicians and singers in DR's choirs and orchestras are very busy this festive season with many concerts all over the country. True to tradition, the entire range of Danish Broadcasting Corporation's choirs and orchestras are in top gear throughout the festive season to bring people together around the music of the season - from Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Danish Christmas carols to the big, symphonic New Year's Eve roar.
But this year, we in DR's Choirs and Orchestras have a deep concern that makes us musicians, in the midst of the hustle and bustle, take up the pen. Throughout 2017, we have heard one strange political proposal after another questioning whether live music should continue to live in DR. There has been talk of the ensembles ’standing on their own two feet’ and a proposal to merge with the Royal Theatre has been floated. Proposals that show a total lack of insight into the work of the two institutions and their very different artistic profiles - while completely ignoring the deep connection between music and media that is unique to DR, which brings music of the highest artistic level to all Danes all year round.
For us musicians who work every day in the intersection between live music and media, it is obvious that DR is more than ever living up to its great responsibility as a culture-bearing institution that touches and gathers Danes around the great musical moments. We must demand that politicians continue to let DR fulfil this responsibility so that together we can bring music safely into the future.
With the Concert Hall as its internationally renowned flagship, DR Byen is today a progressive media centre where we musicians work closely with our media colleagues: sound engineers, cameramen, producers and journalists. Where all of DR's choirs and orchestras are involved in a number of exciting communication projects - from virtual reality recordings with DR PigeKoret to programmes for children where the DR Symphony Orchestra plays with go pro cams. Because we know that it is precisely in the interaction with new technology that classical music reaches the entire population.
For 90 years, generations of musicians and singers have shaped DR's choirs and orchestras, and over the past decade our stunning new concert hall has elevated the entire range of ensembles to new artistic heights. Today, we can attract the world's leading guest soloists - and the internationally renowned chief conductors of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Fabio Luisi and Marcus Creed, are living proof that DR's choirs, orchestras and big bands are second to none.
But above all, DR's choirs and orchestras are an open window to the Danish cultural heritage, and are thus inextricably linked to DR's public service obligation. More than a quarter of the music we produce is Danish, more than any other orchestra in Denmark. DR PigeKoret, DR VokalEnsemblet and DR Korskolen sing their way into everyone's hearts with their interpretations of Danish songs, DR Big Band premieres newly composed Danish jazz music - and DR SymfoniOrkestret are experts in playing music by the national composer Carl Nielsen, while the orchestra commissions new works from living composers who help put Denmark on the musical world map.
As musicians and singers in DR's choirs and orchestras, our work rests on the shoulders of our talented predecessors. For a few years, we are small pieces in the fantastic story called Danish cultural history - and then we pass the baton on to the next generations. That's why the long-term work with talent development, which we contribute to with the DR Choir School, the Malko Competition and the Malko Academy, is a matter close to all our hearts, as is our ongoing collaboration with conservatoires, music schools and primary schools. Without new generations of musicians and singers, music has no future, and without DR as an incubator for new talent - and at the same time guaranteeing a broad, innovative dissemination of music to all Danes - Danish music and cultural life will lose a key force field full of enthusiasts.
The musical wealth we have built up through generations of musicians and singers since the founding of DR can be lost in an instant in political manoeuvring and headless merger exercises. We hope that anyone who experiences DR's choirs and orchestras at this time - on radio, TV, online or live across the country - will think twice about the unique combination of cultural heritage, musical innovation and modern communication that all Danes have access to on our national public service channel. And we expect that politicians will continue to prioritise the interaction within the framework of DR, which is our best opportunity to bring Danish music safely into a new, digital future.
Chairman of DR VokalEnsemblet, Emil Lykke
Chairman of DR KoncertKoret, Anna Carina Sundstedt
Chairman of the DR Symphony Orchestra, Rene Mathiesen
Chairman of DR Big Band, Søren Frost