Gina is off in Vienna, at the ICAN Civil Society Forum, and I’m sure she is going to come back bursting with inspiration and knowledge to share in next week’s blog.
Meanwhile I’ve been busy thinking about what 80,000 Voices really is and how best to share this with the world. What makes us different?
We really stand apart, as I see it, in three ways.
The music
There is music at other festivals and events, but it is something to be consumed and viewed, or it isn’t the main focus. We want to utilise music as the means of bringing people together through participation. We envision 80,000 people singing together, in one voice, creating a sense of community and shared experience in the way that only music can. We see a huge, radical mix of styles, from spoken word to choral singing, to opera, to rap, rock and everything in between.
The issue
We care about social issues. And engagement. And we don’t just want to slap a theme on our festival with no follow-through. Our first theme is nuclear and we are speaking to scientists and academics, attending conventions (well, Gina is – take me toooooo!!!!!!) and really making sure that we have the serious information to back up what we are doing.
Accessibility.
You don’t need to run away to an exotic location to get away from the drudgeries and cynicism of “real life”, to find a place where you can be free to connect on a deeper, more emotional level. We’re not out in the desert miles from anywhere.
We’re online, we’re in London, and we are going to be easy to get to! You can start talking to us now – facebook us, comment on our blog, retweet our tweets!
This in particular, from the festival Burning Man which shares some of our culture, speaks to me –
“Participation – Our community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. We believe that transformative change, whether in the individual or in society, can occur only through the medium of deeply personal participation. We achieve being through doing. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. We make the world real through actions that open the heart.”
I love collaborations between musicians and large scale orchestras, so I’d love to leave you a couple of videos
by Erin Hutching
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