OUR FOUNDER
Ode To Joy Foundation was founded by Kerry Candaele, an educator, writer and COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Richard Hofstadter and President's Fellow
Kerry Candale
Nonprofit The Ode to Joy Foundation was founded by Californian Kerry Candaele to benefit societies worldwide. Throughout his adult life, Candaele has worked as an educator, a writer and filmmaker committed to the values of tolerance,compassion, equality, and freedom, in keeping with the ideals of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Born in Vancouver British Columbia, Candaele was raised in Lompoc, California. After running a history museum and teaching high school history at The Cate School in Montecito, he worked in East Timor, Guatemala, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza, and other countries for The Democracy Council, an international non-governmental organization.
Candaele has been invited to give talks and participate in music and history seminars in several countries. Most recently he joined Beethoven scholars from Europe and the U.S. at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn at a conference to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first performance of the Ninth Symphony. He was invited to give a Tedx talk at Purdue University, and often works with young musicians on film and music projects, from Chile to California, with string quartets in New York City, and with musicians who do educational work in prisons, hospitals, and with hospice workers.
He has traveled and filmed in 25 countries across the globe, including South Africa for a celebration of Nelson Mandela's birthday where Beethoven's Ninth was performed. He has worked in Morocco, Japan and China, and has presented his films in 35 states in the United States and in over 40 countries.
Candaele has written three books, including Bound for Glory, 1910-1930: From The Great Migration to the Harlem Renaissance, and Journeys With Beethoven, a book about his three Beethoven films and the music's global impact. He has taught history at Marymount Manhattan College, Occidental College, with adult students at Cal State University, Dominguez Hills and other colleges.
He is married, has three daughters, and has lived in Venice, California for over twenty years.