As Eurovision momentum builds across the city, the University of Liverpool continues to play a key role in the celebrations.
This week Liverpool UNI-ty Choir sang on the Eurovision Village main stage. Made up of University staff, students, and members of the local community they performed a range of material including gospel-inspired songs, a piece written in response to the refugee crisis and an ABBA medley. They were in good company too, and their performance kicked off an afternoon of music performed by acts including The Lightning Seeds, Miles Kane, Michael Aldag, and the Eurovision entries from Italy, Finland, and Norway.
Meanwhile, in Liverpool ONE, shoppers and visitors have the opportunity to channel their inner pop star in the University of Liverpool karaoke pod. There today (Friday 12 May, 9am – 8pm) and tomorrow (Saturday 13 May, 9am – 7pm) the University branded performance area gives people the chance to perform and record any one of the 80,000 songs available. The pod is being manned by University students, giving them a unique experience of working at the heart of the city's Eurovision-related activities while engaging passers-by in conversation about studying in Liverpool.
The University also compiled a moving video that documents the voices of staff and students, with each of the 30 participants saying 'United by Music' in their country's language.
Professor Gavin Brown, Pro Vice Chancellor for Education at the University of Liverpool said: "Liverpool is always a vibrant place but the sense of occasion in the city this week is particularly striking. As the main event approaches, it's fantastic that our staff and students are continuing to contribute to the excitement and helping to create a positive legacy from the extended programme that's engaging the local community and visitors alike."
This week's activity follows the recent programme of Eurovision events delivered by the University. Highlights include the transformation of the city centre campus including a new mural by local artist Paul Curtis. The University played a key role in a city-wide photography project delivered by Open Eye gallery, and hundreds of primary school children from across the Liverpool City Region also came together to perform a concert of European songs at the Tung Auditorium.
Still to come…
Poetry in a Time of Crisis
On Monday 15 May, acclaimed poet Ilya Kaminsky will deliver a new lecture, which explores his Ukrainian artistic heritage.
Selected by the BBC as 'one of the 12 artists that changed the world', Kaminsky's lecture explores poetry in a time of crisis. His talk will focus on poets from Ukraine and include examples from many of the poets writing out of the current conflict while also drawing on a wider historical context as well as poems that touch on contemporary crisis in the West.
