Miscellaneous Musicians from twelve countries play together virtually
Technology makes it possible: musicians can harmonize with each other, even if they are not on stage together. A "European Symphony" is intended to provide melodious proof of this and at the same time write music history.
24.02.2026, 05:19
SDA
Musicians from twelve countries will form a virtual orchestra in 2027 and will be connected in real time from various European cities for a concert in Dresden, according to the Dresden Symphony Orchestra, which is in charge of the project.
Well-known orchestras will take part in the instrumental groups. The Dresden Symphony Orchestra will provide the strings. The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra contributes tuba and trombones. The flutes are in the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano in Italy, the trumpets in the No Borders Orchestra from Serbia and the clarinets in the Athens State Orchestra from Greece. The Brussels Philharmonic (Belgium) will provide the percussion, while the Mozarteum Salzburg and the Czech Philharmonic will contribute choirs.
The Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid (bassoons), the Pannon Philharmonic (Hungary/horns), the Sinfonia Varsovia (Poland/oboes) and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (piano/celesta and harp) are also taking part in the cross-border project - despite being up to 2,200 kilometers apart. This is made possible by a specially developed transmission technology with extremely low latency as a prerequisite for making music together via the Internet.
"Europasinfonie" will include three world premieres
Under the direction of Italian composer Andrea Molino, three works written for the "European Symphony" will be premiered in Dresden in June 2027 and broadcast around the world via satellite. The composition competition will begin soon. Entries can be submitted from the beginning of May until the end of July this year. An international jury will announce the winners at the beginning of October. They will each receive prize money of 14,000 euros. The project is funded by the European Commission.
However, the "European Symphony" is intended to be more than just a one-off concert. The plan is to establish a network of universities with so-called low-latency studios throughout Europe. Low latency (response time) is crucial for real-time applications. Music students, orchestras and composers are to connect virtually across national borders. The aim is to enable international projects and also reduce the music industry's ecological footprint by avoiding air travel.
