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24th August: BBC considers dropping Rule Britannia from Last Night of the Proms, Saving culture and sports – Corona experiment in Leipzig, Musicians mobilised in Belarus

Monday 24th August 2020

BBC considers dropping Rule Britannia from Last Night of the Proms

The traditional flag-waving anthems Rule Britannia and Land of Hope of Glory could be dropped from the Last Night of the Proms because of their perceived links with colonialism and slavery.

The BBC is reportedly considering whether to axe the patriotic staples in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, and the Covid restrictions are seen as an opportunity to make the change.

Reduced orchestra sizes, social distancing and no audiences make the 2020 Proms a very different experience from past years.

The final concert will be conducted by Dalia Stasevska, 35, from Finland, only the second female conductor to preside over the Last Night of the Proms.

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Mal kurz Kultur und Sport retten – Corona-Experiment in Leipzig

Die Corona-Pandemie hat die Veranstaltungsbranche in Deutschland lahm gelegt. Kultur und Sport suchen verzweifelt nach Lösungen. Wie groß die Risiken wirklich sind, sollte jetzt ein Großversuch in Leipzig zeigen.

Für Tim Bendzko sind die 1400 Zuhörer in der Arena Leipzig alle Weltretter. «Vielen Dank, dass ihr alle hier seid und uns helft, schnellstmöglich zur Normalität zurückzukehren», ruft der 35 Jahre alte Popstar dem Publikum zu. Seine Fans sind an diesem Samstag alle Probanden. Das Bendzko-Konzert ist ein Experiment der Universitätsmedizin Halle. Die Infektiologen wollen herausfinden, wie hoch das Risiko eines Corona-Ausbruchs nach Großveranstaltungen ist. Während Bendzko singt, erheben die Forscher eine große Menge Daten. 

«Es geht um ein evidenzbasiertes Vorgehen», erläuterte Michael Gekle, Dekan der Medizinischen Fakultät an der Uni Halle das Konzept des Corona-Konzerts. Großveranstaltungen sind in Deutschland wegen der Pandemie noch bis mindestens Ende Oktober untersagt. Das trifft die Kultur, aber auch den Sport. Gekle und seine Forscher suchen nach Wegen, um von diesem pauschalen Verbot wegzukommen. 

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Saving culture and sports – Corona experiment in Leipzig

The Corona Pandemic has paralyzed the event industry in Germany. Culture and sport are desperately looking for solutions. A large-scale trial in Leipzig should now show how big the risks really are.

For Tim Bendzko, the 1400 spectators in the Arena Leipzig are all world saviors. “Thank you all for being here and helping us to return to normality as quickly as possible,” the 35-year-old pop star shouts to the audience. His fans are all test persons this Saturday. The Bendzko concert is an experiment of the University Hospital Halle. The infectiologists want to find out how high the risk of a corona outbreak is after major events. While Bendzko sings, the researchers collect a large amount of data.

“It’s all about an evidence-based approach,” said Michael Gekle, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Halle, explaining the concept of the corona concert. Due to the pandemic, major events are prohibited in Germany until at least the end of October. This affects culture, but also sports. Gekle and his researchers are looking for ways to get away from this blanket ban.

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En Biélorussie, les musiciens mobilisés

Manifestations, concerts improvisés… les artistes sont en première ligne dans le soulèvement contre Alexandre Loukachenko.

L’image est spectaculaire. Devant la Philharmonie de Minsk, la plus grande institution musicale financée par l’État, les musiciens de l’Orchestre ont joué jeudi 17 août en soutien à l’opposante Svetlana Tikhanovskaïa. Habillés de blanc, la couleur de l’opposition, ils dénoncent les résultats truqués des élections présidentielles du 9 août, officiellement remportées par Alexandre Loukachenko, au pouvoir depuis vingt-six ans, et la répression subie par les manifestants, avec déjà deux morts et plusieurs centaines d’arrestations.

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Musicians mobilised in Belarus

Demonstrations, improvised concerts… the artists are in the front line in the uprising against Alexander Lukashenko.

The image is spectacular. In front of the Minsk Philharmonic, the largest state-funded musical institution, the musicians of the Orchestra played on Thursday the 17th of August in support of the opponent Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Dressed in white, the colour of the opposition, they denounced the rigged results of the presidential elections of 9 August, officially won by Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power for 26 years, and the repression suffered by the demonstrators, with two people already dead and several hundred arrested.

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