Sir Karl Jenkins premiered his gargantuan 'One World,' the 2023 UNESCO Concert for Peace, last Sunday, Nov. 19, and was live-streamed on YouTube worldwide. Of note, the video-on-demand version of the YouTube stream will only be available for 30 days after it was posted.
The performance of the Welsh maestro's new work took place at the Brucknerhaus Linz Concert Hall in Upper Austria, and in accordance with the essence of Jenkins' "One World," all performers including himself offered their talents for free.
The Incredible Scale of the 2023 'One World' UNESCO Concert for Peace
The overall scale of the concert is unprecedented, with upwards of 700 performers joining under the baton of Jenkins, comprising members from the World Orchestra for Peace, World Choir for Peace, Hard Chor Linz, Choir of the Musische BORG Linz, the state youth choirs of Austria & 40 other countries, and the Stay At Home Choir.
270 singers of the Stay At Home Choir joined the concert virtually, using a highly synchronized audio-visual projection, which acted as the perfectly epic backdrop to the incredibly huge-sounding music that was produced in the room.
World-renowned star soloists such as soprano Ruby Hughes, mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge, and baritone Roderick Williams, also played a part in the large-scale musical undertaking. The artists seemingly reprised their parts in the studio recording of "One World" which peaked at No.1 in the UK's classical chart.
The Meaning Behind Sir Karl Jenkins' 'One World'
Sir Jenkins, considered to be one of the world's most performed composers of our time, shared that the entire identity of the project follows the "One World" inspired by the Hebrew phrase: "Tikkun Olam," or "Repair the world."
"The work for choir and orchestra heralds a vision of a peaceful and egalitarian planet that treats nature and ecological issues with respect and where human rights are universal," said Jenkins, as reported by Classic FM.
Appropriately, Jenkins weaves in multi-cultural elements plucked from different parts of the world, which includes religious inspiration from the Bible and the Hindu Gayatri Mantra. The maestro also incorporated ideas from the works of English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, American-Lebanese author Khalil Gibran, and opera writer Carol Barratt.
The "One World" concert was co-commissioned by the World Choir for Peace and the World Orchestra for Peace organizations.
