Ode To Joy

The Cork Deaf Community Choir and artist Amanda Coogan will perform Beethoven’s Ode to Joy in Irish Sign Language alongside Lianne Quigley and Alvean Jones of the Dublin Theatre of the Deaf. Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, the European Union’s anthem, has renewed contemporary context as a powerful artistic example of conflict between darkness and light, this performance will be an aural and visual feast.

Beethoven himself was completely deaf when writing this masterpiece - in embodying his music from an Irish Deaf community perspective, the Cork Deaf Choir and the Dublin Theatre of the Deaf bring with them not just a beauty in performance but also an embodiment of the struggle for acceptance and equality. This will be a visually stunning new work of performance art, re-framing the experiences of the oppressed and asking the audience to recognise the resilience in the human spirit.

Accompanying music performance of Ode to Joy by the National Symphony Orchestra and conducted by David Brophy, with a specially-formed choir and Irish and European soloists. Recording courtesy of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who in May 2023 hosted EU50 Gala Concert of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the National Concert Hall, in association with the European Commission and European Parliament to celebrate 50 Years of Ireland's Membership of the European Union.

Supported by the Arts Council and presented as part of Creative Europe funded BEyond PARTicipation project with venue supported by Crawford Art Gallery