We Play 4 Ukraine: Musicians of the world´s unite for Ukraine

Musicians of the world´s professional orchestras unite for Ukraine and perform the theme of Beethoven’s Ninth and the anthem of Ukraine in a video. The deadline for entries is 31 May, 11:59pm.

"Dear colleagues,

as musicians we want to send a sign of solidarity and hope to the citizens in Ukraine and to our colleagues there. Our initiative has its origins in Bonn, the native town of Beethoven, and is linked to the opera orchestra in Odessa.  We cordially ask you to join our initiative.

Together we want to produce a music video in which many musicians from leading European orchestras play the theme from Beethoven’s Ninth and the anthem of Ukraine. The combination of these musical themes is intended to underline our wish for an early end to the completely senseless Russian war of aggression and soon lasting peace in Ukraine. Through the power of music, we as Europeans want to underline our close bond with the Ukrainian people. You too can join in. It would be great to have you on board!

Please forward this invitation to your musician friends today! See and hear you soon!

Kind regards

Christoph Müller (Bonn)
Stas Sagdeev (Odessa)
Polina Kelm (Kyiv)

So far, musicians from the following orchestras have participated:

• Beethoven Orchestra, Bonn
• WDR Symphony Orchestra
• New Philharmonic Orchestra Westphalia
• SWR Symphony Orchestra
• Cologne Conservatory
• Detmold College of Music
• German Pops Orchestra
• BBC Symphony Orchestra
• Bigband of the German Armed Forces
• SWR Big Band
• NDR Big Band

(as of May 20, 2022)

Here is what you should do:

1. Download the sheet music for your part and the prerecorded audio track  here! 
2. Use headphones when listening to the prerecorded track so that this cannot be heard on your video. Use another device to film yourself; a smartphone will work well. The tuning is 440 HZ
3. Record in landscape mode; frame rate 30 frames per second (fps), make sure the video recording option is set to a good resolution (ideally FullHD).
4. At the very beginning of the prerecorded piece, identify yourself by showing your name, orchestra, and country on a white sheet of paper, and hold it in front of the camera.
5. After that, you will hear 4 beats to count you in, and then 4 beats to clap your hands to. We need this for our synchronizing all the videos later.
6. After a short pause, the actual count-in will start, you will hear the prerecorded track, and you can add your part to it. (Attention: Part D is tacet!) 
7. Do not film AGAINST the light!
8. Please place the camera at eye level.
9. If the score contains more than one parts for your instrument, you can decide whether you want to record one or more parts. But please indicate on your initial identification sheet which part(s) you play.
10. Afterwards upload your recording with the upload button below. 
11. If for some reason the video upload on this page is difficult for you, please send us your video via WeTransfer to: [email protected]