Towards The 9th Symposium
Hugo De La Vega, President of ADICORA
The Argentinean choral community is awaiting with keen interest and a sense of great expectation the events that will mark the 9th World Symposium on Choral Music 2011, “Singing the World”. The Symposium will take place between 3rd and 10th August 2011 in the city of Puerto Madryn, Chubut Province, Argentina.
Organised every three years by the International Federation for Choral Music, this is undoubtedly the most relevant choral event in the world. It will be held for the first time in a South American country, and this 9thsymposium represents an historic opportunity for singers from many nations to meet, exchange views, approach issues and benefit from understanding other choral traditions from around the world. The symposium is moreover a valuable opportunity for personal growth and improvement.
With these convictions in mind, ADICORA – the Association of Choir Conductors of the Republic of Argentina – supports the 9TH WORLD SYMPOSIUM ON CHORAL MUSIC 2011 and trusts that the sense mutual cooperation established in August 2006, when the World Assembly of Associations of Choir Conductors organised by ADICORA was supported and coordinated by IFCM in the city of Buenos Aires, will be continued.
Music institutions throughout the Republic of Argentina offer today interesting academic chances to those who wish to become choir conductors, including specializations in choral conducting at various municipal, provincial and national conservatories, schools and institutes of music as well as public and private universities and colleges. Training in the choral arts has increased steadily since the 1970s and there now exists a Masters Degree in “Choral Interpretation of Latin American Music of the 20th Century” awarded by the National University of Cuyo (Mendoza). Students come from various Argentinean provinces and also from Colombia, Chile and Brazil.
In spite of all these efforts, this new and welcome choral activity throughout our vast country must be supported by even more intense training, due to a great demand by amateur choir conductors wishing to professionalise their work. In this way, the ADICORA board and affiliate organisations (sixteen in total), along with delegations (numbering four), have in the first seven years of institutional life called into being numerous courses and workshops in choral conducting, conducting techniques, score preparation, style and interpretation of both Argentinean and international choral repertoire. Clinics, reading sessions, the creation of new repertoire, as well as conferences and lectures on topics related to these activities continue to attract great interest by choir conductors, teachers of music, and singers.
ADICORA has successfully organized two composition competitions of choral works and arrangements – the third one “Works for the Bicentenary” is well on the way to fruition. The organisation has also held two national conferences and five regional conferences directed towards children and the adolescent singer, and currently propels the development of projects related to the inclusion of children and youth choral singing in schools. It publishes two free magazines distributed to associates: “La 440” communicates activities among the affiliates and delegations, and includes the most relevant news on each semester and articles of musical interest; “Revista Anual” has, for numerous issues now, become an authentic tool of study with extensive articles directed at professional development for choral conductors.
As an institution, ADICORA supports all choir conductors in Argentina, and encourages the presence and participation of conductors and those involved in choral activities in our country during the lead-in to the next symposium. ADICORA wishes that all may be able to come to Puerto Madryn, even those from the most distant towns out in the country. We shall therefore ensure the provision of travel grants and scholarships, thus ensuring personal and professional growth and ushering in a time of more fluid relationships with international conductors and choirs of standing.
The sense of enrichment gained by all participants will have a multiplying effect in the regions where they can develop their activities, which is exactly why ADICORA considers holding the symposium in Argentina so essential. Argentinean choral activity will grow in quality and diversity, and Argentinean music – both arrangements and original compositions – will be shared with the International choral community. As an associate member of the International Federation for Choral Music, ADICORA congratulates IFCM and the CIC Foundation from Chubut for accepting the challenge of organising the 9th World Symposium on choral Music 2011 in the Republic of Argentina and looks forward to a new chance to enjoy the excellence of the choral music of the world.
Translated from the Spanish by Maria Mercedes Zavala Tello, Argentina
Revised by Graham Lack, Germany