For us human beings, singing has always been a thing of fundamental importance. Music educators and choral experts, however, have long been aware that the situation with regard to singing in schools has been growing dramatically worse.

In 2019, we celebrated 150 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and Austria, and thus one and a half centuries of eventful history that have witnessed the complete transformation of the notion of an Austrian state as well as Japan’s transformation from a “developing country” into a leading industrial power.

In May 2019, a very special transformational concert set an entire school building resonating and reverberating.

In ethnomusicology, one frequently deals with the music and dance of people who are perceived to be “different”. However, one needn’t travel to the far corners of the earth to do so—after all, Vienna itself is home to an extremely varied range of musical cultures that exist side by side.