Hitting the right note for the seventh European Skills Championships: the official theme song for the European Skills Championships to be held in Graz from 16 to 20 September has been recorded. And there’s nobody better for the job than the skilled workers of tomorrow: twelve Styrian apprentices, from the energy provider Energie Steiermark and the vehicle manufacturer Magna, feature on the soundtrack.

Graz, 10 February 2020 Only a little over 200 days from now, Austria will host the vocational skills championships for the first time. While around 650 international competitors do battle for the coveted European championship titles, the city of Graz will come alive with the sound of music. It’s not just the tens of thousands of expected visitors that will raise the sound level at the Messe Congress Graz exhibition centre. The official theme song will also ring out loud and clear during the event. The EuroSkills 2020 theme song was sung by 12 apprentices employed by the energy provider Energie Steiermark and the vehicle manufacturer Magna and recorded at the Recorder Music Studios in Graz, the very place where the classic hit “Live is Life” by the Austrian rock band “Opus” first set its sights on the world hit parades in 1984. “EuroSkills has a very special message, which is that anyone who pursues their career with passion and commitment – like our competitors – can become a true hero of their profession,” says EuroSkills 2020 Supervisory Board Chairman Josef Herk, with a smile. “With this theme song, we can now express our commitment through music, too – and the connection to the smash hit by Opus can only be a good omen.”

Apprenticeship training top on the agenda

“The EuroSkills theme song provides a fabulous foretaste of the energy and passion that we can expect at the competitions in September,” emphasise Christian Purrer and Martin Graf, the two Board directors of Energie Steiermark. “We are delighted to be EuroSkills sponsors.” Seven of the energy company’s apprentices demonstrated their singing talent for the theme song, which will soon have everyone joining in – including when the medals are awarded during the closing ceremony. “Apprenticeship training is extremely important for Energie Steiermark,” say Board directors Purrer and Graf. “Our apprentices are our company’s future. That’s why we’ll be thrilled to see them on stage in the EuroSkills choir.” EuroSkills 2020 sponsor Magna also called on some potential future EuroSkills competitors to take part in the recording: five apprentices from the international automotive business make the EuroSkills 2020 choir complete.

An important milestone on the road to EuroSkills 2020

For Angelika Ledineg and Harald del Negro, managing directors of the EuroSkills 2020 GmbH, the recording and release of the theme song marks yet another milestone on the road to the mega event, which will convince Graz, Styria, Austria and the entire European region even more of the importance and high expertise of skilled workers.