european union cultural policy_music as the key to european integration

8/10/2019 European Union Cultural Policy_Music as the Key to European Integration

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European Union Cultural Policy: Music as the Key to European Integration

30 April 2010

Eighth European Community Studies Association Canada Biennial Conference:

Whither Europe? Victoria, BC

Rene Gordon Holley

Graduate Student, MusicologyUniversity of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

1003 S. Mattis Ave., Apt. 1-2

Champaign, IL 61821

[email protected]


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IntroductionIn June 2010, the Ruhr region of Germany is hosting a province-wide day of song, where

pre-selected European and international choirs are singing together, encouraging tourists andresidents to join them in song. This Day of Song is one of thousands of activities associated

with the European Unions 2010 Capital of Culture program in Essen. Although the success of

this event can not yet be measured, it stands as a clear example of how European Union (EU)officials and program designers use music and musical events to accomplish policy goals,including establishing an ever closer union. Drawing from Europes history as the birthplace of

musical masters such as Monteverdi, Handel, Beethoven and Chopin, the EU continues todevelop and create narratives of common cultural heritage and progress relating these masters, as

well as popular and folk music contributions, to its cultural policy. The revised Preamble of theTreaty on European Union highlights the role of culture in the project of a unified Europe. The

new second recital of the Treaty on European Union Preamble: DRAWING INSPIRATIONfrom the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which have developed the

universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, freedom,democracy, equality and the rule of law, provides the framework for understanding musics

contribution to culture and how this artistic medium is mobilized to further promote EU values(Treaty of Lisbon2007, Article 1).

To better understand the relationship of music to the European Union, this paper attemptsto answer two questions. First, how does the EU utilize music to accomplish its goal to become

an ever closer union, and second, is the EU successful in this undertaking? To answer thesequestions, this paper examines both official European legislation and recent literature on cultural

policies to determine the way in which music has contributed to EU cultural policy. Byscrutinizing the EU definition of culture as compared to Raymond Williams treatment of culture

in modernity and highlighting musics social and political significance in Europe, this paperoffers four examples of musics role in policies and programs that negotiate the meanings of

culture and serve to promote the ideology of the EU.

The Culture Problem

Definitions, or delineations, of culture used in EU cultural policy provide an

understanding of what constitutes culture, not to mention a common culture. Such a task,however, is daunting at best. Many have noted the problematic character of culture. In a study on

EU speeches, Marko Kananen notes that politicians only state that European identity is basedon a common culture, but only rarely is this culture clarified further (2008, 171). Raymond

Williams, in his workKeywords: A vocabulary of culture and society (1983), states, Culture isone of the two or three most complicated words in the English language (87). After tracing the

history of the term, Williams settles for three categories of usage for culture. Culture can refer to(i) the independent and abstract noun which describes a general process of intellectual,

spiritual and aesthetic development, from the [eighteenth century]; (ii) the independentnoun, whether used generally or specifically, which indicates a particular way of life,

whether of a people, a period, a group, or humanity in general, from Herder and Klemm.But we have also to recognize (iii) the independent and abstract noun which describes the

works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity. (Ibid., 90)In the EU context, examples of each of these types of culture would include (i) reference to the

process of becoming cultured, (ii) identification of the habits and heritage of any one Europeangroup as a culture, and (iii) the products and practices of a particular industry, such as music.


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Several EU sources problematize the definition of culture, but most conclude thattheir parameters for defining culture are ultimately unsatisfactory. In The Economy of

Culture in Europe, a report prepared for the Directorate-General for Education and Culture,the pragmatic delineation of culture roughly resembles that of Williams. Culture can be

approached as art, explained as us[ing] the agrarian metaphor to describe the work

completed with the mind and highly subjective as it includes a quality evaluation of whatart is or is not; as a set of attitudes, beliefs, customs, values and practices shared by agroup; or as a means to qualify what activities are included in the particular cultural sector

(Economy2006, 44). This description of culture has been dissected to better suit anorganization of economies of culture.

For the first time in 2007, the European Commission statistics generator, Eurostat,produced a pocketbook on cultural statistics. Because a specific definition of culture is

necessary to produce such a report, the European Leadership Group (LEG) provided aworking definition in a 2000 Eurostat Working Paper. The study states that, to express

culture and cultural relationships in statistics, various cultural activities must be organized inthe NACE system, or Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community

model. As definitions of culture differ by country, a common classification is necessary tocompile and compare statistics from different surveys and statistics sources within the EU.

The definition of culture informing the Eurostat pocketbook followed some proscriptions ofthe UNESCO definition, notably excluding the areas of sport, games, nature and the

environment. Areas of cultural activities are organized among eight domains: artistic andmonumental heritage, archives, libraries, book and press, visual arts, architecture, performing

arts, and audio and audiovisual media/multimedia; and six functions: preservation, creation,production, dissemination, trade/sales, and education (Eurostat Working Paper 2000, 24, 25).

Cross-referencing the domains and functions of performing arts, Table 1 provides the fieldsin which music may appear in EU cultural policy.1

When examining this framework, music most often appears in the context of musicalinstruments, musician employment, and as an object represented by sound recordings.

Indeed, the limited consideration given to all the diverse functions of cultural domainsexcludes details necessary for understanding the impact of music in EU cultural policy.

Extrapolating from the table, functions one might consider significant for or relating to thedomain of music as performing art include the preservation and display of historical musical

instruments and manuscripts and access to collections of musical scores, recordings andcorrespondence and materials of composers in libraries and archives. This organizational

framework also overlooks the complicated relationship between musician/performer/artistand the recording industry. The music industry strongly links album sales with other

activities listed under the domain of the performing arts. Popular artists, in particular, couldbelong to both the performing arts and audiovisual domains of culture. Despite the challenge

of defining culture, placing music within that framework and identifying cultures commonEuropean components, this early statistical study and report provide information for further

study. As cultural statistical analysis becomes more sophisticated, these data are intended tohelp shape and evaluate EU cultural policy.

1Table data reproduced from theEurostat Working Paper 2000, 26.


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Table1:Theclassificationofculturalactivitiesandtheircorr

espondencewithNACE

Preservation Creation Production Dissemination Trade / sales Education

Cultural Heritage- M.H.- Museum

- Archaeological sites- Others

Activities for theprotection of monuments

Museums activitiesArchaeological activities

Other heritage-related

activities

Event organising andawareness-raising

Educationalactivities

ArchivesGeneral and specialised

archivesEvent organising and

awareness-raisingIdem

Libraries

Conservation and reading

libraries

Event organising and

awareness-raisingIdem

Books and press- books-press

Creation of literaryworks

Drafting of articles fornewspapers and

periodicals

Production of booksNewspaper and periodical

productionActivities of press agenciesActivities of literary agents

Organisation of festivalsand fairs for books /

readingEvent organising and

awareness-raising

Trade/sales in booksTrade/sales in press

publications

Idem

Visual arts- Visual arts (inc. design)- Photography- Multidisciplinary

RestorationCreation of visual

works

Production of visual work

(publication of printedreproductions, production of

casts, etc)

Exhibitions of visualworks

Organisation of festivalsEvent organising and

awareness-raising

Trade/sales in visual works

(art galleries)Trade/sales in

reproductions and casts

Idem

ArchitectureArchitectural creation(activities of firms of

architects)

Idem

Performing arts- Music- Dance

- Musical theatre

- Theatre-Multidisciplinary

- Other performing arts

Creation of:musical works

choreographic worksmusical theatre works

drama theatre works,etc.

Production of liveentertainment

Activities of orchestras,theatre, opera, dance

companies, etc.

Services linked to productionof live entertainment (inc.

artistic agents)

Dissemination of activitiesof concert halls, dance

theatres, musical theatres,drama theatres, etc.

Organisation of festivals

music, dance, theatre, Event organising and

awareness-raising

Idem

Audio and

audiovisual/multimedia- film- radio

- television- video- sound recordings

- multimedia

Creation ofcinematographic worksand audio-visual (non-

cinema) worksCreation of multimedia

works

Film production for cinemaFilm production (non-cinema)

Production of radio

programmesProduction of television

programmes

Production of sound andaudio-visual recordings

Production of multimedia

works

Film distributionCinema management

Organisation of festivals

Radio broadcastingTelevision broadcasting

Trade/sales in sound andaudio-visual recordings

Trade/sales in multimedia

works

Idem


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Why Music Matters

Within the limited framework of culture as statistical indicator, music and its complexrelationships with individuals, cities, regions, nations, and supranations can not be fully

appreciated for its emphatic role in the construction of places, identities, and polities. Music

helps people constitute and imagine their identities, drawing on scenes of group performancewhile constituting a sense of belonging and group solidarity. Thomas Turino explains thesignificance of music in his workMusic as Social Life:

Music, dance, festivals and other public expressive cultural practices are a primaryway that people articulate the collective identities that are fundamental to forming and

sustaining social groups, which are, in turn, basic to survival. The performing arts arefrequently fulcrums of identity, allowing people to intimately feel themselves part of

the community through the realization of shared cultural knowledge and style andthrough the very act of participating together in performance. (2008, 2)

Martin Stokes further encapsulates musics power in relation to ethnicity and identity,describing the affective components that make music and music events likely means of

political and ideological influence for political bodies, such as the European Union. Hestates,

The musical event, from collective dances to the act of putting a cassette or CD into amachine, evokes and organises collective memories and present experiences of place

with an intensity, power and simplicity unmatched by any other social activity. Theplaces constructed through music involve notions of difference and social boundary.

They also organise hierarchies of a moral and political order. (Stokes 1994, 3)Music has historically been mobilized by nations as a means of communicating values

and identity to citizens. In the work The Music of European Nationalism: Cultural Identity andModern History, Philip Bohlman argues that

Music is malleable in the service of the nation not because it is a product of national andnationalist ideologies, but rather because musics of all forms and genres can articulate the

processes that shape the state. Music can narrate national myths and transform them tonationalist histories. Music marks national borders, while at the same time mobilizing

those wishing to cross or dismantle borders. (2004, 12)As a tool to European integration, the EU has and could further mobilize music to reshape the

place of Europe. The LEG report interestingly exempts language as an area of cultural concern,leaving music, considered by some to have language-like characteristics, to communicate the

values of the EU, whether as human rights or a belief in a shared heritage. As a policy tool,cultural programs featuring music in cultural and creative industries deserve equal consideration

in identifying top-down efforts promoting feelings of EU identity and citizenship.

EU Cultural Policy: From Maastricht to the Present

Armed with an understanding of the significance of music in EU cultural policy, an

examination of EU legislation on culture reveals how and to what degree of success policymakers use music. The Treaty on European Union, or Maastricht Treaty of 1992, is the first

treaty to explicitly mention culture.2In Article 151, the treaty states that [t]he community shall

2The Lisbon Treaty (which became effective on 1 December 2009) alters Article 151 only insignificantly. The

language concerning the Council is changed minimally, leaving the majority of the article and its original intentions

the same.


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contribute to the flowering of the cultures of the Member States, while respecting their nationaland regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore

(TEU, Art.151, 1). The article has two seemingly contradictory goals: promoting andemphasizing a unified European culture while equally respecting and fostering the diverse

cultures of each Member State. The European Union is able to support Member State

cooperation as it relates to the improvement of the knowledge and dissemination of the cultureand history of the European peoples, conservation and safeguarding of cultural heritage ofEuropean significance, non-commercial cultural exchanges, [and] artistic and literary creation,

including in the audiovisual sector (Ibid, 2). Since cultural policy is an area of sharedcompetency between the EU and its member states, the Council of Europe cannot require that

member states harmonize their laws and regulations but may only make recommendations. EUcultural policy has several agendas and programs, all aimed at fulfilling these requirements.

Keeping the TEU in mind, the Council of Europes resolution on the European Agendafor Culture seeks to address issues regarding intercultural dialogue and better visibility of EU

programs in Europe and internationally. The three areas of concern are (a) promotion of culturaldiversity and intercultural dialogue; (b) promotion of culture as a catalyst for creativity in the

framework of the Lisbon Strategy for growth, employment, innovation and competitiveness; and(c) promotion of culture as a vital element in the Union's international relations (European

Agenda for Culture 2007/C 287/01, 2). These priorities emphasize the contributions of workersin cultural sectors and the importance of intercultural dialogue as a means to improve feelings of

European identity, citizenship and social cohesion (Ibid., 3A). In response to this resolution, newprograms have been instituted while the original program for culture was reworked to address

these priorities.Current EU cultural policies extrapolate from the Culture Programme, a continuation of

Culture 2000, which lasted from 2000-2006. This current segment, lasting from 2007-2013,has the following objectives: promote the awareness and the preservation of cultural items of

European significance; promote transnational mobility of those working in the cultural sector;encourage the transnational circulation of works and cultural and artistic products; stimulate

intercultural dialogue (Europa, Culture Overview). The program has a total budget of four-hundred million euros and funds all but audiovisual activities. Keeping Article 151 in mind,

successful bids for funding often include collaboration among multiple European organizationsand some third countries. EU policy makers intend that these partnerships simultaneously

highlight local cultural heritage that is also shared with others in the EU and beyond. Just as theexchange of ideas and cultures is valued in these new programs, the movement of people also

fosters a sense of communal participation and common cultural identity. In order to make thiscommon cultural area for the peoples of Europe a reality, it is important to promote the

transnational mobility of cultural players and the transnational circulation of artistic and culturalworks and products, and to encourage dialogue and cultural exchanges (Decision No

1855/2006/EC, 10). The program also seeks to promote equality among men and women whileexcluding racism and xenophobia (Ibid., 5,6). Including the EUs support for EU language

promotion and multilingualism, the Culture Programme is an ambitious and creative policythat strives to fulfill the Treatys ideals for culture.

Specifically, the extended Culture Programme addresses the significance of culturepolicy for external relations, economics, and political strategies such as EU integration. For

example, presenting a single image of European culture communicates a clearer message on aglobal level. The decision states: An active cultural policy aimed at the preservation of


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of economic interests in the EU. Her primary concern is studying how the implication of termslike citizenship, identity, and culture are included in EU cultural policy.

Taking a look at the new member states of the EU, those added in 2004 and 2007, LidiaVarbanova considers how EU policies, such as the Culture Program, Structural Funds, and

European cultural cooperation initiatives, influence cultural policy on the national level. As the

EU expands, EU cultural policy affects each EU country to different degrees. As Sassatelli hasnoted, Italy has received a disproportionate amount of funding from the Culture Program ascompared to other nations, and the Eastern and Mediterranean expansion of the EU naturally

changes how these new members construct their policy in light of their former communist pastand the new requirements and attractions of EU policy. Varbanova states, Throughout the

process of democratic transition, culture has always been a low priority for national and regionalgovernments, as other social and economic priorities absorbed most of the political attention and

state funding (2007, 51). These nations have the challenge of cultivating a regional, nationaland European cultural heritage simultaneously. Varbanovas only mention of music concerns the

general goal of increasing the lucrative character of Europes creative sector, of strengtheningthe economics behind cultural products, such as movies and music, which are competitive

globally (Ibid, 59). Overall, the perspective of new member states should be respected within anydiscussion of the use of music in EU cultural policy.

Examining one member state, Donna Buchanan comments on how music and culturalpolicy was shaped in Bulgaria during its pre-candidacy into the EU during the 1990s. In her

article Soccer, popular music and national consciousness in post-state-socialist Bulgaria, 1994-96, she states that during the success of Bulgarias national soccer team in international

championships in 1994 and 1996, musicians produced new songs that celebrated the hometeams victories in language and musical styles that referred overtly to the nations shifting

position vis vis the Balkans, the European Union and the western world (2002, 1). Althoughthese musical examples are not products of EU cultural policy, they factor into the creative

processes of imagining Bulgarias place in Europe. Similar to the crisis of the first ten accessioncountries, Bulgaria struggled to prepare itself for admittance into the EU. In an earlier article she

states that Bulgarias aspiration to EU membership impacted the shape and conceptualization ofmusical styles performed by folk orchestra members, both within and outside the folk ensemble

network, illustrating the extent to which political ideology is often lived through poetic orsymbolic discourse (Buchanan 1995, 385). Bulgarian cultural policy was structured around

making a place for a unique Bulgarian orchestral practice based on folk elements within the artmusic tradition of Europe. The next step in these studies would be to examine how cultural

policies in Bulgaria have shifted to include EU cultural policy since 2007.

Political Music and the European Anthem

Realizing the scant treatment of music, and EU cultural policy in the literature, scholars

can look to several EU activities that address how the EU uses music in reinforcing ideology. Asone of the three main symbols of the European Union, the European Anthem clearly signifies the

implementation and importance of music in forming the identity of Europe.3 First adopted by

the Council of Europe and later by the European Community in 1986, the finale of Beethovens

Ninth Symphony is the European anthem. The anthem comes from the melody that accompaniesthe Ode to Joy text written by poet Friedrich Schiller in 1785. While the anthem has been

3The four symbols of the EU are the Anthem of Europe, the blue flag with twelve yellow stars, the EU motto

United in Diversity and Europe Day, on May 9 (Symbols of the EU).


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performed with the lyrics from Beethovens symphony, no official text accompanies the anthem.The Europa website states that, [w]ithout words, in the universal language of music, this anthem

expresses the ideals of freedom, peace and solidarity for which Europe stands (The EuropeanAnthem).

Caryl Clark takes up a musicological and political consideration of the Council of

Europes anthem choice. She traces the history of the anthem decision, beginning withinformation about lay peoples suggestions for an anthem beginning as early as the 1940s. In1971, the Council of Europe finally established a committee to deliberate about the choice of

anthem. She continues, The committeeapparently without musicological counselagreedunanimously that Beethovens music was representative of European genius and was capable

of uniting the hearts and minds of all Europeans, including the younger generation (1997,796)

4. It appears that if ever there was an appropriate time to consult experts about the choice of

music for such an important use, then this is the moment when musicologiststhe expertsshould have been included in the decision process. This brief comment raises the question of

whether the European Union does or should confer with musicologists or ethnomusicologists andwhether the advice of such experts would be beneficial to the EUs programs and goals.

Clark states that when the European Community adopted the anthem, the issue of a text,and in what language that text should be sung, had not yet been resolved. She argues that this

decision was made by politicians who were ignorant of the significance of their choice,considering the complicated associations of Beethovens Ninth Symphony with composer

Richard Wagner and Hitler during the Third Reich. Clark also suggests that the Councilpoliticians succumbed to the myth of Beethovens musical genius, an idea which was alive and

well during the 1970s, overlapping with celebrations of the bicentennial of Beethovens birth(Ibid., 802). This musicological attempt to interpret the Anthem of Europe stands as a helpful

example of how additional studies of music, particularly classical, or art, music, and theutilization of music in EU cultural policy interact. Further questions concerning the choice of

Beethovens Ninth emerge when considering the diversified cultural heritage of the EU with theaddition of twelve new member states. Does such a piece represent the whole of Europe well,

especially since the symphonic genre could be understood as elitist and is not universally popularor recognized as an historical component of each EU nation? The extent to which the anthem

appeals to all EU citizens, not to mention how many actually identify with the work, presentsnew areas for further study regarding this EU symbol.

In addition to serving as a signifier of EU values, the European Anthem contributes to theeconomic and social interests of the Union. The Council of Europe has produced and supported

the creation of variations of the anthem, and these versions attempt to reach out to a wideraudience of Europeans. One CD includes variations on the theme in musical genres such as hip

hop, trance, jazz violin, and others. The press website contains excerpts of the anthem intendedfor official use and includes selections from four Romani versions taken from a different CD.

These CD sales may add to the support of the growing music industry sector in Europe.Choosing variations that might appeal to the backgrounds and interests of Europeans reinforces

the valuation of cultural diversity in the EU, whether generational or other.

4Internal citation from the Explanatory Memorandum by Mr. Radius, 10 June 1971, Archives of the European

Commission, Brussels, RO/303 Y71, doc. 2978, p. 6.


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Specific Cultural Programs: The European Year of Creativity and Innovation

The EU has developed several year-long cultural programs around specific themes. After

the successful European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (2008), 2009 was designated as theEuropean Year of Creativity and Innovation (EYCI). The Europa website states that [t]his

initiative aims to promote, through lifelong learning, creativity and innovation as key skills for

all. The main challenge is to create an environment that is conducive to all forms of creativityand innovation, whether artistic, cultural, social or technological, and to promote the practicaluse of knowledge and ideas (Europa, Summaries of EU legislation, European Year of Creativity

and Innovation). This EU initiative works to promote the economic side of cultural goodsthrough the support of creative industries, to which music naturally belongs.

To launch the EYCI, organizers chose a musical group to demonstrate innovation incultural industries. On December 5, 2008, at the Thtre Molire in Brussels, the celebration of

innovation began with a performance of the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra. Jn Fgel, theEuropean Commissioner for the Directorate General of Education, Culture, Training and Youth,

opined that this ensembles performance would inspire innovation in Europe.I think that Vienna is much linked to Mozart, to the traditional music and European

culture. And here we can see [the] Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, which is really non-traditional, young people who are very creative and innovative. And I think this is [a]

great example [of] how music, art, and culture can contribute to innovations. (Imagine.Create. Innovate. Video Gallery 2008)

Video from the media launch event features the ensemble of Viennese individuals constructingmusical instruments out of vegetables and performing original compositions. The avant-garde

style and diversity of sounds the ensemble produces on vegetable instruments, such as the leakviolin, carrot recorder, and "cucumberphone," is supplemented by electronic music tracks and a

video montage. Music played a central role in the conceptualization of this year of culturalinnovation, but this groups selection elicits further questions about how the group was chosen.

This event does reveal how a music ensemble was specifically chosen as embodying theparticular goals of this cultural initiative and chosen over other areas considered equally as

innovative: such as other performance arts, social areas, and technology.

Determining the Success of EU Cultural Policy: European Border Breakers Awards

In addition to using music as a signifier of EU values and as the embodiment of cultural

policy agendas, examining specific musical events sponsored by the EU helps to determine thesuccess in communicating these values and goals. The only award given by the EU for music, the

European Border Breaker Awards (EBBA), supports debuting pop music artists and groups.The award aims to stimulate the circulation of European music throughout the EU and to

highlight Europes magnificent cultural diversity (European Commission, Culture). The EBBAawards began in 2004 and annually honors ten European contemporary music groups who

achieve the goals and objectives of the program. Artist selection is comprised of the artistswider European popularity; concerning the first album released outside of their home nation, the

artist or group must be a successful live performer who appeals to festival audiences outside ofthe production country, and success is measured using calculations of album earnings outside of

the production country and radio play data from stations throughout Europe. Winners perform inGroningen, the Netherlands, and the program is recorded and broadcasted for television

audiences. The awards show coincides with the European Music Conference and theEuroSonic/Noorderslag Music Festival. The European Commissions main partner is the


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European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the union of television broadcasters from European andneighboring nations.

While clearly serving as an example of music incorporated in cultural policy, EBBA doesnot appear in the scholarship on EU cultural policy. One tool for measuring the success of the

EUs EBBA awards is drawing a comparison between it and the widely popular Eurovision Song

Contest (ESC). Its similarity in broadcasting and programming format, the institution of publicvoting for the Public Choice EBBA in 2010, and the partnership with the EBU all speak to thiscultural policys resemblance to the ESC. Philip Bohlman calls Eurovision the largest popular-

music competition in the world, and as the 2002 competition was underway, he states thatSong has unified Europe, achieving a unity that even the European Union itself has yet to

achieve (2004, 1-2).Although not a part of EU cultural policy, popular music and politics play out within the

long tradition of the ESC, and therefore directly relate to the European Union. One could arguethat the EBBA is the EUs answer to the ESC, and ESC should be considered within the larger

context of the EU. Ivan Raykoff recognizes the value of a parallel EU/ESC study: PlacingEurovision alongside the history of the European Union clarifies some of the aesthetic

contradictions of its reception that is, why certain countries regard the contest with indifferenceor disdain while others take the enterprise more seriously (2007, 6). He traces the popularity of

Eurovision in different European countries and reflects on how these attitudes relate tomembership in the European Union.

Despite a lack of explicit connections between EU cultural policy, funding and the ESC,the EU was an official partner with ESC in 2007, using the competition to promote the

European Year of Equal Opportunities for All to an international audience tuning in to thecompetition. Vladimir !pidla, from the Commission, gave a speech on May 11, taking the

opportunity to speak of the inequalities and discrimination that still occur in the EU and to sharewith EU citizens how they can get involved in their own communities. The EU has thus

mobilized the musical events of Europe to advertise their social and cultural agenda, evenpartnering with the high-profile ESC, which, incidentally, is one year older than the founding of

the European Economic Community.When comparing the ESC with EBBA, EBBA must make significant strides to reach the

same profile as the ESC. The dissemination of each program is markedly weighted on the ESCside. While it must be acknowledged that EBBA is six years old and ESC fifty-five years old,

since 2004, ESC has well over 38,000 videos on YouTube, and EBBA has less than 5,000.Despite sharing the same EBU sponsorship, the EBBA website lists only ten television stations

that broadcasted the awards program. Helena Paparizou, a Greek singer and songwriter, is theonly artist to win both ESC (2005) and an EBBA (2007). Her success and increased popularity

during and following Eurovision arguably boosted her popularity within Europe, leading to herselection as a Border Breakers artist with large numbers of her debut album being sold outside of

Greece. Both performance outlets value musical and aesthetic talents, required for portraying aconvincing stage presence and mobilizing popular responses, but even the evaluation of such

merits is hidden within the EBBA selection process.EBBA has not achieved its own goals regarding the acknowledgement of cultural

products from all its member states. As eastern and southern EU nations continue to catch upeconomically to those of EU founding members, discrepancies between EBBA winners and

equal representation throughout the EU will be compromised. Since the establishment of EBBAin 2004, only seven artists and groups from new EU member states have won the award,


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comprising ten percent of the total number of awards given. In contrast, recent EU membershave participated in ESC even before joining the EU, some joining as early as 1961. Since

EBBAs inception, no top EBBA winners, from Western European countries including Germany,the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland, have won the ESC; instead, new

member states or non-EU members have primarily won, with the noted exception of Paparizou,

the only Greek pop artist to win an EBBA. For the EUs cultural agenda to succeed, moreattention should be given to highlighting European cultural diversity.

European Capitals of Culture and the Day of Song

Relegated under the Culture Programme, the European Capitals (or cities) of Culture

(ECOC) is perhaps the most successful program of the European Commission. The first ECOC,in Athens, was chosen for 1985, and the program has continued with traditionally one to three

European cities featured each year. The Europa website describes the annual event as givingEuropean cities the opportunity to present a cultural programme lasting around a year,

highlighting the richness, diversity and shared characteristics of Europes cultures (Europa,Summaries of EU legislation, European Capital of Culture). The updated decision in 2006 set the

policies for the city selection process through 2019 (Decision No 1622/2006/EC). The EUprovides only minimal funding of the ECOC program; local, national, and private contributions

help to make these diverse events possible. EU financial support funds exhibitions and eventshighlighting the cultural heritage of the city and its region, plus a wide range of performances,

concerts and other shows, which bring together players and artists from across the EU (Europa,Culture Overview). Music plays a significant role in ECOC events, and Germanys 2010 ECOC

is no exception.Scholars addressing music, however briefly, have considered the EUs Capitals (or

Cities) of Culture (ECOC), devoting articles to the program in general and to specific eventhosting cities. Monica Sassatellis article European Cultural Space in the European Cities of

Culture describes the difficulties associated with the EUs motto united in diversity andanalyzes how the rhetoric of European cultural heritage played out in 2000 when nine cities were

chosen as Capitals of Culture. Through studying these events, she concludes that [w]hat we cansee through the implementation of the ECOC programme is not only a map of the European

cultural space taking shape, but also how that implies a reconceptualization of the cities involvedand their culture as European (Sassatelli 2008, 237). Although her study serves only as an

overview of the year 2000 cities, only one (of two) cited examples concerns musicalprogramming. From a colleague in Bologna, one of the nine ECOC cities, she learns that the

organization of a choir of young people from each of the nine cities succeeded in accomplishinga sense of European and international unity. Other than this anecdote, however, no further

analysis of the choir or its music enters her investigation.In an earlier article on the European Capitals of Culture, Sassatelli focuses on how these

cities utilize the symbols of the EU to construct a feeling of European-ness or European identity.She interprets this construction along the lines of Benedict Andersons imagined communities,

those which are bound by a reality that exists in the mind but not necessarily as a community inclose geographic proximity. Referring to Maastricht, Sassatelli notes that the emphasis on the

role of culture in the construction of community makes more obvious the contradiction thataffects all cultural policies:promoting the spontaneous flowering of culture, using culture as a

legitimizing tool while claiming that culture deserves to be safeguarded as the highest product ofhuman activity, thus as an end in itself (2002, 440). Again she mentions the youth choir Voices


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of Europe, and argues that this event was the most successful of all 2000 events, according tostaff associated with the Capitals of Culture from that year. In examining programs and websites

for 2000 events, she notes that music appears more frequently than Europe, a term whichwould seem central to the themes and requirements of 2000 ECOCs (Ibid, 444). Other than

mentioning the Anthem of Europe as a symbol of the EU, the article contains no further

inclusion of musical discussions.The thorough examination of ECOC musical events, including Essens Capital of Cultureevent, !Sing Day of Song, serves as an ideal example for investigating how musical events

contribute to the EUs cultural agenda while highlighting the common values of its memberstates. According to the events website, on June 5, 2010, at 12:10 p.m., everyone in the Ruhr

Region is encouraged to break into song, singing the same piece, with the goal of filling theentire metropolis with song. Choirs from Europe and beyond are joining the programming for the

week, performing at venues before the concluding concert on the evening of June 5. Along withthe possibility of a singing metropolis, the final concert of the Day of Song constitutes a musical

experience capable of forging identity and feelings of group solidarity, akin to the characteristicsof communal music making included in Turinos work.

This final concert is also reminiscent of the common values of the EU. Drawing fromEnlightenment ideology, Bohlman describes how music, and specifically song, served as the

emblem of unity among those participating in early nineteenth century revolutions (2004, 28).He continues, The music of the stateless Europe would be given voice from below, [] The

song of a utopian Europe was the song of the people, a transformation of the Herderian idealfrom myth to history. A chorus constituted from the voices of all nations would take to the stage

of European history, making Europes wholeness palpable and real (Ibid.). The Day of Songparticipants are taking part in an event with the social and political potential to unite the group

while creating a European community.Engaging internationally renowned musicians, the Day of Song final concert takes

place at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, a massive stadium traditionally devotedto soccer matches. Bobby McFerrin, an American singer best known for the song Dont Worry,

Be Happy, Vesselina Kasarova, a Bulgarian mezzo-soprano opera singer, and the Wise Guys, aGerman a cappellagroup, help guide the concert program while contributing their own works to

the concert. Other significant participants at this concert include all the twin town choirs, comingfrom Poland, France, the United Kingdom, Norway, the United States, Nicaragua, Turkey, and

eight other countries. These formal participants are joined by every concert ticket-holder,effectively creating an entire chorus out of everyone in the stadium. The variety of participants,

the organization of such an event intended for inclusive choral membership, and the musicalworks on the program all touch on the cultural agenda of the EU, particularly as it relates to the

involvement of people from many nations and contributes to the promotion of mass media andthose engaged in the popular and classical spheres of musical culture.

Ticket-holders are sent the concert program in advance. Each person, upon arrival atVeltins, will receive a songbook with the nights musical numbers included in a simplified

version for ease of singing along. For more serious attendees, the programmers created specialbooks including four-part voicing of the concert pieces, intended for advance purchase and

study. The concert itself includes folk, popular, and art music selections. Twin town choirs fromPcs, Hungary, and Istanbul, Turkey, are each singing folksongs from their countries, which

serves as a fitting connection to the EUs two other 2010 Capitals of Culture in these cities.Pieces intended for stadium-wide participation include Let it Be, popular German songs, the


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Gypsy Chorus from VerdisIl Trovatore, Gounods Ave Maria, and Handels HallelujahChorus. The musical program relies heavily on art music, and most group selections indicate

that the primary language of lyrics will be German, two indicators of the significance of aGerman place for this concert. The extensive focus, however, on German music and art music, a

genre not accessible to all German or EU citizens, possibly limits the amount of participation of

all attendees. Some intercultural exchange does occur with the inclusion of several folksongs,opera works from Italian and French operas, and the contributions of musicians from multiplecountries.

Specifically listed under the Festival Music section, the fourth movement ofBeethovens Ninth Symphony appears on the program. Although this programming decision

could be interpreted as the inclusion of the European Anthem to the concert, it is not listed assuch, and the clear historical and cultural connections between Beethoven and Germany make

such an assumption questionable at best. The addition of this piece, which recalls theEnlightenment ideals on which the EU was founded, however, shows how such decisions about

music can affect ones perception of EU cultural programs and the goals of European integration.One can not speculate as to the degree of participation which will actually occur at such an event,

and each persons experience has the potential to elicit feelings of belonging and community.

Conclusion

As a creative policy maker, the EU involves many citizens in musical activities and

events, such as those associated with Essen as European Capital of Culture, thanks to the fundingdedicated to cultural programs. Musics true significance in EU cultural policy, however,

deserves more consideration than what scholarship currently offers. Music appears in thesymbols of the EU, as demonstrative of the values of EU policy, and as a vehicle for

accomplishing economic goals, such as the further distribution of European cultural industries,and political goals, serving as a means to experience expressive culture and belong to the process

of unifying Europe. With the knowledge of why music matters and EU definitions of andlegislation on culture and cultural policy, scholars can examine these spheres of meaning that are

commissioned with the goals and values of the European Union.


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