In 2017, Salvador Sobral won the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 for Portugal with the song ‘Amar pelos dois’. Performing the song live at the awards in Kiev, Sobral’s star shot to fame, catapulting the relatively unknown musician into stardom. It wasn’t intended to be this way for him. Originally setting out to study psychology, his experiences studying abroad through the Erasmus+ program set him on a path to music, and ultimately one of global success. His musical story is one of countless experiences, in which the Erasmus+ program has introduced musicians to one another and initiated further such encounters across the continent.
Celebrating this year’s #ErasmusDays, Europavox takes a look at over thirty decades of musical mobility and the success stories that have been enabled.
From the Renaissance to Outer Space
Named after the Dutch philosopher and theologian Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, the Erasmus Program assists students across Europe in studying throughout the continent, and helps support cross-border training and integration. The student exchange programme has been running since 1987, and involves 90% of universities throughout 42 countries, promoting the mobility of over 10 million students since its inception.
In 2014, the program was substituted with the new and updated Erasmus+ scheme, an expansion that included education, training, and sport in its outlook. Now even more heavily funded, the programme set out to focus on social inclusion, and support activities in the digital sectors, all the while offering students the chance to open their mind to new opportunities abroad and learn from different cultures.
To say that the Erasmus + program is a success would be a massive understatement. It is one of the cornerstones of the European community, supporting not only students, but teachers and other trainers in studying, working, and travelling abroad, creating new networks and relationships. It’s not just about giving grants either, the Erasmus+ program has been responsible for supporting initiatives across the continent, and further innovation in the field of environmentalism.
Along the way, the program has set forward the careers of countless alumni, across multiple sectors. Famous Erasmus alumni include astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, former Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini, and Executive Producer of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Tom Bird, amongst many others.
Erasmus Idol
The program has also been responsible for setting in motion the musical careers of many noteworthy, and more underground, musical talents. Along with Portugal’s Salvador Sobral, Erasmus also kickstarted the musical career of Portuguese star Diogo Piçarra, who won the nation’s Pop Idol competition back in 2012.
It was while studying at the University of Algarve, that Piçarra — like Sobral — opted to join the Erasmus+ program, taking a semester abroad to pursue his studies at the Palacký University in the Czech Republic.
“When asked what the turning point of my career was, or when I started thinking of pursuing a musical career… I say it was during my Erasmus,” Piçarra is quoted as saying, speaking around the Erasmus’s 30th year anniversary.
Thanks to his experience, Piçarra is now an ambassador for Erasmus in Portugal. Originally starting out as an independent musician, Piçarra didn’t realise his true dreams until taking that final leap. He credits his Erasmus experience with boosting his self-esteem, by making him more comfortable in public, and giving him the strength to embolden his command of languages. It also gave him the independence he so craved to be able to do things himself.
For Sobral, the Eurovision winner, the experience was also very similar. While studying psychology, Sobral took a year abroad at the UIB (Universitet de Islas Balears) in Palma de Mallorca. Here, he wistfully spent his free time frequenting the city’s underground jazz clubs, performing to some of the lucky locals.
“I think everybody should live abroad at least once in their lives,” Sobral is quoted as saying after winning the Eurovision finals. “It gets you out of your comfort zone and it gives you all sorts of experiences.”
Playing melancholic bossa nova folk songs in the clubs of Palma helped Sobral come to the realisation that music was his true goal, furthering his musical tuition in Barcelona – and then taking this softly spoken music to the Eurovision stage.
Music and More
Aside from the more famous acts, there have been countless other artists who’ve found their personal epiphanies abroad. Famed German-South African singer Ike Moriz furthered his studies at Conservatory of Music in Rotterdam. French singer-songwriter Mehdi Zannad was able to use his Erasmus period in the UK to expand his musical repertoire, helping him get his debut project as Fugu off the ground. Hungarian classical guitarist Gergely Bándi’s scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London helped launch his international career, seeing him collaborate with several established artists.
The Erasmus programme was also the pivotal in the founding of Berlin-based, avant-garde, jazz duo Witch ‘n’ Monk. The award-winning act consisting of Mauricio Velasierra and Heidi Heidelberg combines flutes, guitars, and wild soprano vocals, in a unique style that has taken them to the stages of many cult festivals and line-ups.
“Our project was born out of the foundations of my Erasmus year,” explains singer and guitarist Heidelberg. Studying abroad in Paris, her talents were discovered by a soon-to-be good friend, who encouraged her to perform more. It was during this period where she met Velasierra at a local café, Chez Adel. “Mauricio and I began our project writing music nocturnally and did our first gig at Chez Adel. Indeed, our second gig was at La Cigale [classic Parisian theatre] which came about because I had been a ‘Musicienne du métro’.”
Erasmus pour tous
Increased mobility and sharing of cultures is the key to the future of Europe. Europavox highlights this on a daily basis, profiling bands that have shared messages and identities that are understood across the continent. Regardless of whether an Erasmus program takes a musician to the main stage at Eurovision, or busking at a metro stop in Paris, having that opportunity to express yourself internationally, and learn from other cultures, is invaluable. Here’s to another 30 years of Erasmus and music, or as Sobral would say; “Amar pelos dois.” – Love for both.