Violinist and composer YURY REVICH, who lives in Vienna and was awarded the ECHO KLASSIK as Young Artist of the Year 2016, describes in this series how he works in his concert series (THE MELTING WORLD), compositions (BEETHOVEN RECYCELED) and projects (DREAMLAND WITH YURY REVICH) wants to raise awareness of topics such as sustainability, climate and environmental protection. He shows which steps, in his opinion, are necessary to make the music business more sustainable and climate-friendly. He also describes the urgent need for climate-conscious action beyond the music scene and industry, and how it is possible to make a difference on both large and small scales.
What measures are you personally taking to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable in your work as a music creator? Where do you find it particularly difficult to change your behavior when it comes to your work in the music industry?
Yury Revich: To answer the first part of the question, I would say: It is the same with musicians as with all other people. Everyone can do something, for example by recycling or adapting their own transport and travel habits. These measures should be implemented by everyone. As a musician, two things are particularly important to me: improved travel options and more efficient tour planning.
As far as travel options are concerned, it would be very important that there are significantly more train connections. I’m not sure if this is still the case, but a few years ago there were only three weekly train connections between Vienna and Paris, for example. Because the trains ran so infrequently, they were often fully booked, and if you could get a seat, it was quite expensive. If you then talk to an operator in Paris who has a limited budget and has to choose between a train trip for €200 or a cheap flight for €35 or €40, it is understandable that they would choose the plane. It is therefore important to create more cost-effective train connections so that students in particular can use them. It is necessary to invest more work and financial resources in improving rail transport.
Festival Nights with Yury Revich – Dreamland Konzert 2022 (c) Festival Nights Team
You can definitely be more intelligent when planning your tour. However, this is sometimes not so easy as you are often heavily dependent on the organizers. Unfortunately, on many tours, for example, you have a concert in Paris, then have to travel on to Madrid or Barcelona for the second concert the next day, only to return to the vicinity of Paris afterwards. Such routes should be avoided. You should try to create more well-thought-out plans. To do this, musicians and their management must first enter into negotiations with the concert locations and see when they are available. At the same time, you shouldn’t always just make sure to plan as many concerts as possible within a certain time. Because that often ends up damaging the planet.
What role do you think the music industry as a whole can play – alongside, for example, large corporations or political measures – in the fight against the climate crisis? And what steps do you think the music industry should take to achieve this?
Yury Revich: I would say that every person who has a social media presence or is in the public eye has the opportunity to positively influence people and build awareness. Awareness is absolutely important for a wide variety of things, and sustainability is of course one of the most important topics, today and in the future. Whether someone has 500 followers or 1000 or 5 million, it doesn’t matter. Everyone – from micro-influencers to major influencers – has the opportunity to make a positive change.
“Because it is important that artists also have to approach people who have not yet dealt with the topic of sustainability. Because we really need to take care of our planet.”
Which initiatives on sustainability and the climate crisis have you already encountered in the music scene? And in what way did these influence you?
There are of course many initiatives. The most important thing is that people shouldn’t be afraid to really get involved in the issue of sustainability. For example, I have launched a project called “The Melting World”. This is a multidisciplinary concert and concept that has already taken place three times in Vienna and will take place for the first time in Basel, Switzerland in 2024. I also invited speakers, such as Monika Langthaler from Austrian World Summit or representatives of the United Nations Environment Programme [Umweltprogramm der Vereinten Nationen; Anm. d. Red.] and des Magistrates 48 the city of Vienna.
The concept of “The Melting World” is to have speakers informing the audience about certain topics and in between we work with the emotions through music, dance and acting. This is how we try to touch people. Almost all of the artists who took part had not yet appeared in public with the topic of sustainability. It is also a good opportunity for the artists and speakers to network. After the concert many people said to me: “Thank you very much, Yury, for organizing this. Now we understand how important this is.” For example, an actress has been regularly posting on social networks about sustainability for three years after attending one of these concerts. Of course, I’m very happy about that because it’s important that artists also have to reach out to people who haven’t yet dealt with the issue of sustainability. We really need to care about our planet, including by not just organizing events for 2000 people who are already dealing with these issues. The point is to invite people who have not yet or barely dealt with these topics, such as older people or people who are very privileged and only travel by plane in business class or by private jet. Unfortunately, these are often people who don’t have much access or contact with those working to protect the climate or those affected by the impacts of the climate crisis. With my concerts and projects, I also try to reach those who have not yet really recognized how important, serious and urgent this topic is.
“Recycling is actually quite simple, you can do it every day at home, anyone and anywhere.”
What challenges do you see in implementing sustainable practices in the music scene? What resources, information or support would you like to be able to make and implement more sustainable decisions – also in the context of your musical work and the festivals you organize?
Yury Revich: Of course, as musicians, artists and organizers, we need a lot more resources, a lot more support – media and financial – from the state, from industry, from companies, so that there is no greenwashing. We as a whole society really need to work together more and better and stick together. But this also applies to the collaboration with our companies and partners in the music industry. It’s about everyone ultimately wanting to improve something together. And I think that is very important. Media campaigns, concerts, awareness raising, social media posts, all of these are very important to advance the issue. And that as many people as possible address it, not just once, but constantly – with follow-ups, with follow-up events and so on… Personally, I’m also very ambitious musically and take a lot of time for it. For example, I composed a piece called “Beethoven ReCycled” in which I used sketches and designs of Beethoven that he had never used in his compositions before. With this composition I tried to musically implement and emotionally integrate a statement on this topic, which in itself is really abstract. To show this: “We can also recycle in music”. And to show people: recycling is actually quite simple, you can do it at home every day, anyone and everyone, anywhere. It is precisely for projects like this, and for people with creative ideas in this direction, that really need a lot more support. On the one hand, from the state policy side in the sense of support measures. But at the same time we have to ensure that the festivals, the concert halls, the organizers and organizers are not afraid to address important environmental and sustainability issues. At the moment it is often the case that the financial aspect is often the focus, that all tickets have to be sold and the concert hall is as full as possible, but… maybe you have to start not just thinking about money. Or if you create a concept that, in addition to the musical and artistic demands, also contains a message for the people in the audience – I think you should always take advantage of this opportunity.
Thank you for the conversation and for taking the time.
Simon Reitschuster
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Links:
Yury Revich
Yury Revich (Facebook)
Yury Revich (Instagram)
“Beethoven ReCycled” – Sonata by Yury Revich
Friday Nights with Yury Revich (YouTube)