Founded by choral music icon Professor Erkki Pohjola of Finland, the Songbridge concept brings together leading youth choirs and choral composers from around the world to further global peace and understanding in a non-competitive atmosphere. Songbridge combines the commissioned choral competitions of prominent international composers with the world choral artistry of stellar choirs from their countries. Each year the Songbridge choirs are chosen by international jury, and gather at a world choral symposium for a week. In that special setting, young singers from different countries live, work and play together in a community, learning about each other’s cultures and music, and developing friendship and mutual respect. After several days of intense rehearsals, the choirs are brought together to jointly perform their newly commissioned works and folk music from each other’s cultural represented in the Songbridge.