This article appears published in the International Choral Bulletin, Volume XXXIII, Number 2 - 2nd Quarter, 2014. Rights Reserved International Federation for Choral Music.
María Guinand
Choral director, college professor and IFCM Advisor
“It is clear that music should be recognized as an element of socialization, because it transmits the highest in social values - solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion - and has the ability to bring together an entire community and express the most sublime feelings.”
(José Antonio Abreu)
1
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| Participative concert: J.S.Bach, Christmas Oratorio, Caracas, Venezuela, December 2013 |
In our daily lives we see constant and rapid change. On the
one hand, we witness important discoveries and advances in technology, science,
medicine, art and education, among others, which provide for the common good.
But on the other, we see persistent and troubling political, economic and
social turmoil. Within this dynamic of contrasts and tensions, we, who are
dedicated to choral music, often wonder how we might include our actions and
our efforts to make an effective contribution to today’s world and to human
development in a community or a collective.
In these lines it is not possible to answer such a broad and
complex question. But, we can review some thoughts and concepts to help us find
answers and possibilities for undertaking our work.
Throughout history we find how choral music has flourished
in the religious or social activities of very diverse communities, often as a
vehicle for transmitting transcendent ideas, thoughts and values. We, as choir
directors, choral teachers or choir singers are aware that our art, based on
personal development and collective human values, holds without a doubt a
unique and privileged place, and is therefore an effective tool for finding
solutions to the great social problems which generate innumerable tensions and conflicts
in the twenty-first century. We recognize, as collective values of choral
singing: solidarity, teamwork, tolerance, integration with the environment and
the sense of belonging; as values of personal growth: discipline, self-esteem,
concentration, sensitivity and creativity.
When all this comes together in the quest for beauty through
artistic excellence, the wonderful miracle occurs, which we experience at
memorable moments in our lives as musicians and leaders.
The subject of Social Action has become an important motto
to guide and direct the work of many artistic, educational and sports
organizations in countries where poverty and exclusion are the basis of social
conflict. But it is also an important issue of debate and concern in the
business and economic world, where the concept of social responsibility forms a
part of the annual planning for many companies. Kofi Annan, former Secretary
General of the United Nations, said recently:
“At a time when companies spend much of their time fighting the perception that they are responsible for many of the ills of the world, taking a more active role in the fight against poverty would demonstrate that companies are part of the solution.”2
The thinking of Maestro José Antonio Abreu, founder of ‘El Sistema
de Orquestas y Coros Juveniles de Venezuela’ (National Network of Youth and
Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela), has inspired many musical organizations throughout
the world to work with enthusiasm and conviction on the inclusion and rescue of
youth and children through music. One of his premises is:
“Originally, art was by minorities for minorities, and then became an activity of minorities for a majority. Today, in this century, art should be by the majorities for the majority.”3
Reflecting on this idea, we can certainly say that the
period of choral music from the nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth
and twenty first centuries has been one of majorities for the majorities. There
are many examples of choirs, festivals and choral organizations that have led
to social inclusion through their work and their legacy.
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| María Guinand leading El Sistema, a Venezuela's national music-education program |
Today, particularly in Africa and Latin America, music, as a
factor of social change, is present in multiple initiatives. And in the Middle
East, choral singing serves as a bridge between peoples in conflict.
Given this, the question we ask ourselves is: ‘How can
choral music become an even more powerful tool for integration and social inclusion?’
It is essential to include our activity within the framework
of action for social responsibility in business or in state social programs,
and, accordingly, it is also important that our organizations are successful as
artistic and social enterprises.
As artists, we cannot make concessions to mediocrity in an environment
that often obliges us to seek ‘simplicity’ and ‘mass production’, and thus more
easily gain adherents to our cause. In this respect, we have to be creative
with new teaching approaches, with attractive repertoires, and be demanding in
our work and results, in order to stay true to our art of music.
However, as leaders and promoters of successful social business,
we must take into account some parameters:
- ‘Innovation in artistic and pedagogical approaches, to be understood as the transformation of traditional practices’…
- ‘The sustainability of an action, which depends on the generation of institutions dedicated to sustaining initiatives in mutually beneficial partnerships with the public and private sectors’…
- ‘Planned activities must also have direct social impact, that is, be developed in direct association with the beneficiaries, with documented results which can be measured and corroborated.’
- ‘The degree of reach and expansion of the initiative beyond its initial scope and the potential for replication to other regions and in large-scale inter-institutional cooperation.’4
There are many areas in which we can work to make our choirs
successful as artistic and social organizations, enabling us to develop our
activity in a more creative and current way within the community and in
partnership with the public or private sector.
We live in a complex and competitive world, where often injustice,
intolerance, lack of freedom and exclusion prevail, all of which points to an
uncertain future for the new generations.
However, our great opportunity is to remain a part of a
collective action that contributes, through choral singing, to access to a
better life for many more children and young people, with freedom and hope, and
to a place where they also can realize their dreams.
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1 ‘Tocar y Luchar’ (film)
3 ‘Tocar y Luchar’ (film)
4 ‘Criterios de selección para el ‘Emprendedor del Año’’.
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. [Available:
www.schwabfound.org/colombia/criteria.htm]
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Translated from the Spanish by Joel Hageman, USA •
María Guinand, choral director, college professor, teacher and
leader of national and international choral projects, has specialized in Latin
American Choral Music of the 20th and 21st centuries. She was awarded the
‘Kulturpreis’ (1998) by the Inter Nationes Foundation (1998), the ‘Robert Edler
Preis für Chormusik’ (2000) and the Helmuth Rilling Prize (2009). With the
Cantoría Alberto Grau, she has received six awards in the competitions of
Neuchatel and Arezzo (1989) and three gold medals with the Orfeón Universitario
Simón Bolívar at the Choir Olympics held in Linz (2000). She currently directs
the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela and Coral Fundación Empresas Polar, and is the
Artistic Director for the FSCV and Advisor for the IFCM.
From 1976 to 2009 she has been a close collaborator with ‘El
Sistema’ as the Associate Conductor of Choral Symphonic Performances. Email:
maria_guinand@yahoo.com
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