ec magazine 1/2016

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1/2016

The Mediterranean: The Sea That Unites Us

2 European Choral magazine 1/2016

Board of Directors Comité Directeur Präsidium

President/Président/Präsident Gábor Móczár, Telki (HU)

Vice-President Carlo Pavese, Turin (IT)Vice-président/Vizepräsident

Vice-President Jan Schumacher, Altendiez (DE)Vice-président/Vizepräsident

Vice-President Daphne Wassink, Den Haag (NL)Vice-président/Vizepräsidentin

Treasurer/Trésorier Koenraad De Meulder, Antwerpen(BE)Schatzmeister

Board members Burak Onur Erdem, Istanbul (TR)Assesseurs/Beisitzer Martí Ferrer, Girona (CAT-ES) Reijo Kekkonen, Helsinki (FI) Victoria Liedbergius, Oslo (NO) Loti Piris, Brussels(BE) Patrick Secchiari, Bern (CH) Kaie Tanner, Tallinn (EE) Jean-Claude Wilkens, Lyon (FR) Secretary General Sonja Greiner, Bonn (DE)Secrétaire GénéralGeneralsekretärin General Secretariat Haus der Kultur, Weberstr. 59 aSecrétariat Général 53113 Bonn, GermanyGeneralsekretariat Tel: +49 228 9125 663 Fax: +49 228 9125 658 E-Mail: [email protected] www.EuropeanChoralAssociation.org

Impressum

European Choralmagazine Magazine of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat

Editorial Board Gábor Móczár, Côme Ferrand Cooper, Sonja Greiner, Philippe Le Fevre, Loti Piris, Olav Opsvik, Rossana Paliaga, Núria Tura and Ahti Viluksela

Editor Núria Tura (CAT-ES)

Guest Editor Martí Ferrer (CAT-ES)

Original design Beate Marx (DE)Layout Núria Tura (CAT-ES)

Coverfoto: Choral Crosroads 2013 in Cyprus. Photo: Pavlos Brionides Postal address European Choralmagazine Haus der Kultur, Weberstr. 59a 53113 Bonn, Germany Tel: +49 228 9125 663 Fax: +49 228 9125 658 E-mail: [email protected]

Printed by Messner Medien GmbH (DE)

Print run 2,500

We should like to express our warm thanks to Kathryn Sparks and Charlotte-Rose Terry for assisting with language corrections.

The European Choral Association - Europa Cantat receives the support of the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth, Germany and of the City of Bonn

Some pictures from Mediterranean area projects1-Mediterranean Choral Forum, Istanbul 2016. Syrene girls choir 2- Festival di primavera 2016 organised by FENIARCO, 3- Choral Crosroads organised by Epilogy cultural Association, 4- International Chory Festival organised by Fayha Choir, LIbanon

3European Choral magazine 1/2016

Editorial 4 Diasporas and Fusions, a Sea of Songs 6 Arabic Chant, from the Monodic Tradition to the Choral Work 7 Liturgical songs in Tunisia 8 Fayha Choir Social Projects 10 Mediterranean Choral Forum 2016 11 Music and Resilience Support 11 A New Horizon: The Choral Scene in Turkey 12 News European Choral Association -Europa Cantat News 13

Contents / Sommaire / Inhalt

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1-Fayha Choir, Libanon, 2- Palestinian Choir organised by Fayha Choir 3- Medi-terranean Choral Forum, Istanbul 2016 4- Festival di primavera 2016 organised by FENIARCO,

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La traduction de cette édition d'ECmagazine sera disponible sur notre site web fin june 2016. Nos membres peuvent aussi demander une version imprimée au Secrétariat Général.

Die deutsche Übersetzung dieser Ausgabe von ECmagazine wird Ende June auf unserer Website zur Ver-fügung stehen. Unsere Mitglieder können das Generalse-kretariat auch um Zusendung einer gedruckten Version bitten.

This issue of ECmagazine does not contain an “infopart“ with choral events in Europe and beyond. You will find all choral activities we are aware of in our Online Calendar of Choral Events on www.eca-ec.org -> Events -> Calendar of choral events and you can also submit your own events there.


A Sea of Paradoxes

The Mediterranean is one of the most complex and challenging areas of the world. It is at once the cradle of writing, the birthplace of millenary cultures still alive in our contemporary world, the junction of Europe, Africa and Asia, and the origin of monotheism and other forms of spiritu-ality. Throughout the ages it has also been the focus of exploration, colonialism and war.

Thousands of refugees sail through the Mediter-ranean Sea to escape war, fear and misery. The sea bathes countries that have in recent years experienced social and revolutionary move-ments. It bathes sister countries that old Europe -including the musical and singing Europe- should rediscover, or perhaps discover. The op-posite bank enjoys an ancient musical and vocal heritage that is often as underestimated as it is fascinating and is booming with excellent musi-cal and choral projects that contribute to social improvement and cultural transformation.

© Martí Ferrer


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The fact that the last two editions of the IMC Music Rights Award have gone to projects car-ried out in Palestinian and Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon (Music and Resilience in 2013, Fayha Choir in 2015) should not surprise anyone. Nor should we find it odd that Turkish choirs win European choral contests and are regarded as discoveries at our festivals.

Our democratic values, originating in cultures surrounding this sea, now more than ever draw us into the present humanitarian crisis, and de-mand that we ACT as a European federation, as national choral organizations, as choirs and as individuals in accordance with such values.

We must act according to the European values of solidarity and democracy that unite us under the European Choral Aassociation-Europa Cantat, because social transformation, improvement of people’s well-being and collective cultural enrichment are diverse manners of sharing the benefits of singing and are, in fact, the motto and inspiration of European Choral Association-Europa Cantat.

Martí Ferrer i BoschResponsible of the Mediterranean Office for Choral SingingEuropean Choral Association-Europa Cantat board member


Ladino, diaspora’s tongue If there is a diaspora’s sea, it is the Mediterranean Sea, and if diaspora has a tongue it is Ladino (take care to not con-fuse with Ladin talked in Thirol). Ladino (Judeo-Spanish, Djudio, Judezmo) is the language spoken by Sephardi Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. It is a language derived from Spanish and spoken by 150,000 people in communities in Israel, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Morocco, Majorca, the Americas, among many others places in a total of 30 countries.

Ladino and diaspora can be a good Ariadne thread to follow and imagine a Mediterranean program for a choir. Remember that, if you are a member of ECA-EC, you have full access to the database of the world’s largest choral music, MUSICA INTERNATIONAL. So if you visit the site (remember to do it through the ‘only for members’ area of the ECA-EC website) and search by language (Ladino) the list of results is not very long (all of them for mixed choir, SATB) but can be a good starting point to imagine a program for a concert:

• Bronstein, Tamar [USA] Ladino Suite, Transcontinen-tal Music Publications (TMP 991358)• Jacobson, Joshua (arr.) [USA] Adijo kerida (Tu madre kuando te pario), World Music Press (Ref. : 16)• Neumann, Richard [USA] Yo m’enamori d’un aire, Transcontinental Music Publications (TMP 991025)• Parker, Alice (arr.) [USA] Zimrei Chayim (Durme, durme), Transcontinental Music Publications (TMP 991421)• Rogers, Wayland (arr.) [USA] Yo m’enamori d’un aire (2000), Alliance Music Publications

Diasporas and Fusions, a Sea of

Songs and Opportunities

© Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2040175dia.=2040175

Miscegenation of cultures and centuriesFifteen years ago the Secretariat de Corals Infantils de Catalunya (the Catalan Children Choirs Federation) put up a project to recover forgotten traditional Catalan songs. The idea was very simple, commissioning arrangements for children’s choir of those traditional Catalan songs that were not well known to emerging talented composers. In this way, every year eight new harmonisations by four different composers are published in a booklet distributed among all the children’s choirs of Catalonia. It is a modest project but over the years has added 15 volumes with a total 646 pages and 110 new works!

On the occasion of the Mediterranean Choral Forum 2010, held in Barcelona, the SCIC added a new element to the project that certainly enriched it. Instead of commissioning arrangements from Catalan composers, they commis-sioned composers from four Mediterranean countries: Louziotis Thomas (Greece), Carlo Pavese (Italy), Sara Sho-

ham (Israel) and Eduard Torikian (Lebanon). The result is a delightful volume in which Catalan people rediscover their songs through the eyes of composers from other parts of our sea, the sea that unites us. A volume in which the Catalans discover new colours, harmonies and rhythms to accompany their melodies.

The experience was repeated with a volume of arrange-ments by Basque composers, and again last year with a volume of arrangements by composers from Venezuela. A great way to better know and to enrich our own culture thanks to other cultures.

www.scic.cat [email protected]

More information http://www.europeanchoralassociation.org/members/login-for-members-only/membership-privileges/


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Arabic Chant, from the Monodic Tradition to the Choral WorkIn the beginning of the twentieth century, polyphonic choirs were uncommon in the Arab world, for several socio-cultural and musical reasons. In fact, besides the rejection of mingling men and women in order to form a mixed choir in middleastern society, the modal music of the Arab-Islamic area remained essentially monophonic and did not make any polyphonic addition; this latter persists today for musicians devoted to the roots of the monophonic tradition.

Further, many technical obstacles made it difficult to develop Arabic polyphonic chants.

•First, until the early twentieth century Western notation was regarded as unable to accurately transcribe the Arabic monody (some tried but were unable to successfully design distinct alternative notation sys-tems). In addition, as Arabic music was essentially a purely oral tradi-tion, transcription into Western notation was not considered nuanced enough to reflect the delicate vocal inflections and instrumental subt-leties that comprise the originality and beauty of Arabic music.

•Then, as Arabic script is read from right to left, Arabs also used to app-ly the Western notation but with a reversed transcription, that is to say, writing or reading from right-to-left.

•Finally, the arrangement of Arabic polyphonic literature involves not only the mastery of Western musical techniques in parallel with those of the Arabic language and music, but also a familiarity with what the Arabic musical tradition can admit without interfering with or dimi-nishing its existing sonorities.

However, the picture is quite different today: there are in Egypt, as in Lebanon, many polyphonic choirs and hundreds of monodic singing choirs; likewise in Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia and also in the Gulf coun-tries, where Western teachers are invited recently to teach this newer kind of music-making.

Personal involvementFor twenty years I have opted to contribute to the current choral work launching in the Arab world with my more than a hundred polyphonic arrangements made for many choirs in Lebanon (especially the Fayha Choir, Tripoli) and other Arab countries. I was pleased to have found that the public, and even professionals, have warmly welcomed these Arabic songs dressed thus with a polyphonic feature.

Based on this experience, I offer some tips in order to be helpful to the continued expansion of choral work in the Arabic repertoire.

The task of the arrangerWhen harmonizing, the arranger must:

-Safeguard the Arabic song’s authenticity, -Maintain the melody in the foreground, -Work according to the musical mode in question without overloading it with inadequate or unnecessary modulations and over-complicated harmonies, -Follow the rhythm suggested by the melody, and-Respect the charters of the Arabic language.

To do this, one must remember that Arabic music knows hundreds of modes whose form varies between the more contemporary (similar to those of Western music) and the more traditional (with intervals of approximately three quarter tones). In the first category, there are the national anthems and light songs in vogue imitating what is heard in the international media (disco, rap, tango, waltz, slow, etc.). More traditional are old folk songs or even current compositions in traditional modes containing tones, semitones and three-quarter tones (their interval varies either during the execution or according to the locale); the most difficult to harmonize are the modes whose tonic is a lowered note (three-quarter tones between the tonic and the II degree). Between these two extreme types lies a wide range of modes that often recall the Western modes’ construction, but one must be beware of the resemblance.

The choir and its directorChoir members must master as far as possible the proper Arabic language pronunciation, where a few consonants pose serious problems for foreigners and even the vowels are not always appropriate for a well-placed sound. The director must choose the right balance between the purity of the Arabic expression and the artistic imperatives. In addition, when performing an Arabic polyphonic song, one must go beyond the attempt at complete accuracy and try to create in addition a feeling of enchantment or ecstasy (Tarab), which is the ultimate goal of the Arabic music function.

Edward TorikianComposer


Choral singing, as practiced in Europe or in other parts of the world, does not exist in Arab musical traditions in general and Tunisia in particular. The religious orders, however, are a privileged domain for the practice of choral singing. That is why this article focuses on the liturgical choirs of Tunisia.

Liturgical songs connected to religious brotherhoods (in Arabic, “turuq,” or the singular, “tariqa,”) occupy an impor-tant place in the oral musical tradition in Tunisia. The term tariqa means, in Arabic, ‘the right way [to Allah (God)]’. Liturgical songs represent a very rich part of the Tunisian cultural heritage that has been developed during centuries in the “zawiya” (a kind of mausoleum). This word means, in Arabic, “corner”; in fact, they are the tombs of saints, and similar small buildings. Many villages and many regions have their local patron saints. The zawiya thus becomes the religious headquarters of Muslim brotherhoods. Each one, which is mostly built near the tomb of the sect or tariqa’s founder, includes first a praying room or a little mosque, secondly a room exclusively dedicated to the recitation of the holy Koran, thirdly a “kuttab,” or Koran school, fourthly chambers for the members of the brotherhood which in former time lived constantly there, and finally, rooms which are freely given to pilgrims and other visitors of the mausoleum.

Mostly members of different brotherhoods tariqa meet in different zawiya in order to pray but also to practice their religious ceremonies who includes some liturgical songs. It would be useful to remember that these songs are the result of the expansion of the mysticism and Sufism in North Africa since the tenth century. Many theologians, like Suhnun (777 - 854), who studied Koranic law and “fiqh” (jurisprudence) in Mecca and Medina, contributed to this.

During the 10th century the first “ribat” (fortress) was built in Ifriqiya (the name given to Tunisia before she became a Muslim country). During the time of the Muslim expansion and long after in the constant struggles with the rebelling Berbers in North Africa, the ribat were a kind of fortified monastery in which the half religious, half military orders lived and did their exercises, also both religious and mili-tary. The inhabitants of the ribat were called “mourabitun” (singular, murabat) from which word the Europeans de-rived marabou. In a strict sense this word means the holy person. He is the holiest chief of the mausoleum. The title “Sidi” (for a man) and “Lilla” (for a woman) are always added to the leader’s name, so the marabou is “Sidi Abdelqader” or “Lilla Mannoubiya” for example. Many marabous are at the same time chief of a tariqa (brotherhood).

In Ifriqiya the expansion of Sufism was consolidated by many great figures such Mehrez Ibn Khalef (951-1022), Abu Saïd el Béji, (1156-1230), and Abul Hassen al-Chadhuly (1196-1258) who is considered the most important Sufi and founder of the Chadhouliya brotherhood.

Most Tunisians have since since the 13th century become members of different brotherhoods: Qadriya (whose foun-der is Sidi Abdelqader, born in 1097 in Baghdad); Chadhu-liya of Sidi Belhassen Chadhuly; Aïssawiya (founded by Sidi

Liturgical Songs in TunisiaPreservation and evolution of secular tradition

Ben Aïssa, born in Meknes Marroko in 1467); and Sulamiya (founded by Sidi Abdesslem, born in 1475 in Libya).

Zawiya and other religious institutions participated in developing the so-called “dhikr,” an invocation glorifying Allah.

The union with Allah can be reached by quiet meditation. The use of the dhikr is deduced from the holy Koran, where is said: “Oh you, who believe in Allah, think of Allah with much praise”. The dhikr is a set of certain words ritually repeated on different musical pitches by the brotherhood members, often more than hundred times a day, according to the regulation of the particular sect. They also may be chanted a capella or with instrumental accompaniment. Every order has its own dhikr (invocation), which is deter-mined by the founder of that tariqa. In the Qadriya order, for example, the adepts are expected to say the following “awrad” (invocations) after the five regular daily prayers a hundred times: “astaghfiroullah al ‘adhim” (I beg the pardon of God, the Great); again, a hundred times: “subhane allah al ‘adhim” (God be praised), and another hundred times: “la ilaha illa allah” (there is no god but God).

Another means to inspire religious devotion is through song and music, which are sometimes combined, with certain forms leading to trance. This music and dance is called “samaâ,” which means listening (to music) and may be translated as “spiritual concert”.

Thus music plays a very important role in the practices of the Muslim sects. The song texts are mostly composed by the members of the tariqa or by the founder himself. The melodies follow strict rules and models of classical non re-ligious music. Both use the same modes and rhythms. The songs are sung in the classical modes, the rhythms are that of classical music, and finally, the whole cycle of chants has the same order as the classical “nawbah” (or suite of Arab-Andalusian music) in non-religious music.

Many choirs sing both religious and secular music, like choirs in Testour (a small town about 80 kilometers from Tunis, founded by Moorish or Andalusian refugees during the 16th century), for example.

Liturgical song also includes some popular melodies and rhythms, like “ardhaoui” and “salhi” as modes, rhythms like “saadawi”, and many others.

The majority of sects use musical instruments. “Zokra”, a kind of traditional oboe, is used in the Aïssawiya and Awamriya songs, and as drums they use the “bendir” (a large tambourine) and the “darbouka” and “tar” traditional drums.

The ritual in a sect ceremony begins with collective recitation of the holy Koran; then members of the sect read a “Hezb” (invocations written in classical Arabic by the brotherhood founder); after that, they read once again a “wadhifa” (another form of invocations glorifying Allah). This part of the ritual is without song.

The second part of the ceremony is with music (a capella), without musical instruments first, and then with instru-ments.


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Popular liturgical expressions exist, like “stambali” music and songs of the black Tunisian population; their melodies are based on pentatonic scales.

The Soulamiya brotherhood is regarded as having the finest music. The choral singing is monophonic, mainly based on modes of traditional and popular traditional Tu-nisian music. The texts glorify God Almighty and generally praise the Prophet Mohammed and the founder of the sect or brotherhood. The interpreter-choirmaster sings solos in which he shows his vocal techniques and the degree of mastery of improvisation in different musical modes.

The Soulamiya singing repertoire consists of pieces called “Bouhour” (which may be translated as “seas”), composed in modes and rhythms of the non-religious traditional and popular Tunisian music. The song begins slowly and ends with faster rhythms.

Members of this tariqa sing without dance, adding a per-cussion instrument called bendir during the second part of the ceremony.

Nowadays, liturgical songs are changing, many groups using new instruments and modern melodies for their repertoire. On can attend a liturgical performance in the theater, concert hall, or even in hotels. However, it is noted that several choirs have emerged since the 1990s, comprising more than fifty singers and soloists. “Al Hadhra” (meaning, the music performance of a brotherhood) was the biggest show presented in 1992 at the theater of Carthage. It brings together the most representative songs of the largest religious brotherhoods in Tunisia. Since then,

many shows like Al Hadhra, based on Sufi songs, have been performed in Tunisia and abroad. The “Ziara” show is the latest one performed in many theaters and festivals.

The liturgical choirs today give concerts on the occasion of family celebrations like weddings, circumcisions, and the return of pilgrims.

There are about fifty liturgical choirs in Tunisia. This number is not constant, and may increase or decrease according to supply and demand. It increases significantly during the summer season of festivals and other family celebrations.

Liturgical music and song occupy an important position in Tunisian traditional music. Shrines and other places where religious rites were practiced have less and less of a role in society. Formerly, they played a religious but also social role, as both worship places and social spaces. Perfor-mances by choirs there are less and less frequent. These places, however, contributed to preserving and developing the melodies and rhythms that link between classical and popular music, as has happened in the small town Testour, where the ensemble performs malouf and liturgical songs. Many choirs still sing liturgical music in Tunisia and present shows and performances on festival occasions. New artistic expressions born from the roots of religious brotherhoods’ music remain a vital part of musical life today in Tunisia.

Fethi ZghondaMusicologist and composer


Fayha Choir Social Projects

Our projects aim to discourage and eventually rid children and youth from social devia-tion, such as: dropping out of school, dealing and/or taking drugs, gang involvement, and carrying arms, ... It is our firm belief that this can be solely achieved through the power of music and, in particular, choral singing. This power helps us promote many significant con-cepts, such as learning to coexist with others and to harmonize, accept and respect others, promoting peace, and finally understanding the importance of one’s heritage and culture. Recent studies have shown that choir singing plays an important role in the enhancement of the psychological wellness of singers, increases their self-esteem and self-confidence, trains them to become more disciplined, and increases their memory capacity. Not only that, but it improves and promotes better social skills. The benefits and advantages of singing in a choir are numerous, and the effects on children are extremely powerful for better overall wellbe-ing and their general upbringing.

I- UNESCO Choir (since 2009): It is a project between Fayha Choir and UNESCO regional office in Beirut. The members are students from public schools around Lebanon. The project aims to:

• Allow access to extra-curricular activities for marginalized children in public primary schools in selected locations in Lebanon• Pilot the use of extracurricular activities in playing a role in the retention of at-risk children and the reinsertion of out-of-school children in Lebanon.More than 10,000 children were involved in the project.

I- Lebanese Palestinian Choir (2009 - 2011): After the war of Nahr El Bared Palestinian Camp in North Lebanon, UNDP with Fayha Choir implemented this project to improve the relation between the Palestinians (residents of the camp) and Lebanese youth (from villages sur-rounding the camp).

II- Safadi Choir (since 2014): A project with Safadi Founda-tion for children in one of the underprivileged areas in North Lebanon, an area of social, political, and economical crises. III- Aghanina Choir (our Songs) (since 2014): With Qattan Foundation (Palestine). Members are Children and Youth from the Beddawi Camp (Palestinians) and from Tripoli (Lebanese children and Syrian refugees). The objective of this project is to promote and improve the Palestinian Musi-cal Heritage.

IV- The NRC Children’s Choir: Syrian refugees. Children from the region of Akkar in North Lebanon. This project is in coor-dination with the Norwegian Refugee Council.

V- The NRC Youth Choir: Young Syrian refugees from the region of Akkar in North Lebanon. This project is in coordi-nation with the Norwegian Refugee Council.

VI- Sonbola Choir (Since 2014): In coordination with the Association Sonbula for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon funded by Nai Association in Austria. 150 refugee children from dif-ferent camps in the region of Bekaa.

Roula Abou BakerFayha Choir Manager

This table below shows the progress of singers during trainings

The NRC Children‘s Choir © Fayha Choir

The Fayha choir, based in Lebanon, is composed of nearly 100 members, from all around Tripoli. The men and women of the choir pertain to dif-ferent religious, social, political, and financial backgrounds. The choir’s repertoire is composed of Latin, Armenian, French, and English, as well as Arabic music from different heritages which include Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, Palestinian, Iraqi, Bedouin, and Andalusian. This diversity reflects the choir’s openness and reverence towards common human heritage.The choir’s aims are to develop and spread arabic music, and show its im-portance and richness as well as showing the world the real civilized image of not only Lebanon, but all Arab countries.


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Mediterranean Choral Forum 2016Sharing projects in the Mediterranean area

The Mediterranean Choral Forum 2016 took place in April in Istanbul. This event acts as a foundation for sharing experiences and projects, for reflecting and building new partner-ships, and also for showcasing choral music in the Mediterranean area. On this occasion, we discovered the rich heritage and interesting perspectives of Turkish choral music through the participation of Turkish choral agents on the different panels, in the audience, and also live participation through an interesting proposal of concerts.

Under Inspirations on Amateurs Choirs Aksel Tibet (TR), Iller Ersil (TR) and Masis Aram Gözbel (TR) introduced three choral projects: the Istanbul European Choir, originally founded in 1960; the Orfeon Chamber Choir, founded in 1994; and the Bogaziçi Jazz Choir .

The second panel included presentations on experienced intercultural projects, such as Choral Crossroads in Cyprus (you can read more about this project in previous issues of ECmagazine) and the social project of Fayha Choir in Lebanon (see page 10). In addition, discussions were held regarding a possible international academic inquiry into the ben-efits of Choral singing - a project introduced by Jacques Vanherle (FR).

Choral Ecosystems was the title for the third panel, introducing the project Music and Resilence (MARS) - a European cooperation project that is developing a full training course in psychosocial music intervention for community musicians, music therapists and health and education workers (see article below). Following this, and to present the point of view of professional choirs, was Rana Rizkallah, from Jordan, who introduced the choir of the National Music Conservatory, and Cemi’i Can Deliorman, artistic director and principal conductor of The State Choir, Turkey.

The last panel was centered on young singers. The Turkish young conductor Zeynep Kaya presented the results of their research on Music Education Students and Choir Class in the Aksarai University. Gianni Vecchiati (IT) presented the activities that FENIARCO is running for young singers, presenting some inspiring examples for the audience. Finally, Ozan Çavuşoğlu (TR) offered an overview on the Choral Scene in Istanbul, a discussion that roused a num-ber of questions from the audience, with an interest in and a view to learn more about the choral scene in Turkey.

The forum concluded with Working in an Intercultural Environment, a workshop lead by Sonja Greiner, General Secretary of European Choral Association-Europa Cantat.

The idea to organize every new edition of the Mediterra-nean Choral Forum in a different country was a great suc-cess, and this last edition in Istanbul left a deep impression among participants. If you lost this edition of the Mediter-ranean Choral Forum save the dates for the next edition that will take place in Lebanon from 19th to 21th on May 2017.

www.istanbuleuropeanchoir.orgwww.orfeontr.comwww.musicandresilience.netwww.feniarco.it

Music and Resilience Support a European contribution to the musical care system for asylum seekers and other marginalised communitiesAs refugees and asylum seekers flock to Europe, in many cases fleeing from traumatic life situations and events, a new European partnership has formed to research and develop an Online Resource Centre and a Specialized Training Course for workers and organizations involved in supporting and caring for these suffering communities through psycho-social music interventions.

Music and Resilience Support (MARS) is funded by the EU Erasmus+ Programme and co-ordinated by the International Music Council, Pairs; it calls into cooperation 5 other highly competent organizations working for the the promotion of musical rights, education and well-being: Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy (UK), the Moviment Coral Català, (CAT-ES), Associazione Prima Materia (IT) and Euridea Education Agency (IT). The 6th partner, Nati-onal Institution for Social Care and Vocational Training (LB), brings a unique contribution, after 40 years of caring for the country’s refugee populations, historically Palestinian and currently also Syrian.

Drawing on the experience of ‘Music and Resilience’, developing community music and therapy resources for refugees in Lebanon, a project honoured with the ‘Musical Rights Award’ by the IMC in 2013, MARS aims to equip community musicians, music therapists and other health/education workers with the skills and competences to work in proble-

matic multicultural contexts, between hosting and hosted communities, in order to plan and carry out well-matched interventions for the protection in particular of youth, exploiting the well documented power of music to bridge cultural gaps and stimulate empowerment and resilience.The pilot student group will participate in a 10 day residen-tial seminar in Italy in July 2016, after which training will continue online and through work placements until July 2017. Ultimately, we hope this will result in the increased availability of these interventions for the benefit of suffe-ring communities, wherever they are.www.musicandresilience.net

Deborah ParkerMARS coordinatorAssociazione Prima Materia (IT)

www.musicandresilience.net

© MCF


A New Horizon: The Choral Scene in Turkey

For many Europeans it may be interesting to hear about the choral life in Turkey, a country with a 99% Muslim population and a limited tradition of polyphonic music. A typical question to a Turk-ish choral conductor in Europe would sound like: “Do you sing Bach in your country?” The obvious answer, “Yes, of course we sing Bach, Brahms, Bruckner, and many others!” would be rather a surprising one for a Eu-ropean citizen, who does not know much about the Turkish choral culture. Contrary to what the cliché suggests, Turkey is a country with a very rich choral culture and one of the fastest growing numbers of choirs in the last decades.

The first step in getting to know Turkish choral ter-minology is to distinguish between polyphonic and monophonic choirs. Unlike many cultures, Turkish choirs are mostly

categorised as such in the country, and that is rooted in the musical heritage of Turkey. The traditional music is mono-phonic, with lots of ornaments, based on microtonal modes that are called maqam. Folk music is based on local maqams and also on mostly irregular rhythms like 5/8, 7/8, 9/8, or even 11/8. Choirs that sing folk or classical Turkish music use no po-lyphony and they represent a large percentage in the choral world of the region. Nevertheless, choirs that have a western repertoire and/or sing Turkish music with western arrange-ments have been around since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Since the Cultural Revolution in the 1920s and 1930s, many choirs have been founded, especially choirs of music teachers and conservatories. These choirs are called polyphonic choirs in Turkish culture and they have exactly the same setting and similar repertoire as their European counterparts. The first 30 years of the republic also coincide with the first arrangements of folk music for the choral genre, as well as to the first Turkish opera and oratorio in the follow-ing decades. Throughout the history of the republic, choirs were always present in different forms, including choirs of minorities living in the area formed by Armenian, Georgian, and Greek cultures.

Looking back a few decades, we see the irresistible fire of choral music in big cities, with a growing number of festivals, foundation of choral organisations, formation of new choirs, and expanding variety of repertoire. To pinpoint some of the major events, we must mention the annual choral festivals in Ankara, İzmir, İstanbul, and Mersin, bringing together hun-dreds of choirs every year under the name Polyphonic Choirs’ Festival. Alternative smaller but also international festivals are present in Istanbul: KoroFest, that has been recommended by the European Choral Association-Europa Cantat for some of its editions; Istanbul Choir Days, with an emphasis on foreign

participation; Çanakkale Choral Festival, the 3rd edition of which has been held, and many more.

The participants in these festivals are mainly school choirs, from high schools or universities. But apart from the school choirs, in the last decades, there have been very success-ful, award-winning, amateur choirs that manage to survive for longer periods of time. The number of such amateur enterprises is increasing in the last 10 years. Now, Turkish ch oral enthusiasts have the luxury of selecting a choir to sing in among many good quality options. Turkish choirs have been able to attract and work with world-famous names like Jonathan Rathbone, Eric Whitacre, the Swingle Singers, Nigel Short, and many more. Many choirs also travel to Europe for festivals and competitions, representing the culture with stronger presence today.

Turkey has many small-scale choral organisations, but not an umbrella federation yet. One of the most active organisations has been the Choral Culture Association in Istanbul, organis-ing World Choral Day gatherings, recruiting singers for the World Youth Choir and Eurochoir, representing European Choral Association-Europa Cantat in Turkey, and organising conducting courses. The association has recently hosted the 8th Mediterranean Choral Forum in cooperation with European Choral Association-EC and Mediterranean Office for Choral Singing, with participants from Spain, France, Italy, Lebanon, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, and of course Turkey. There are also older organisations like the Turkish Polyphonic Choirs Association based in some cities, mainly organising annual festivals and working towards a richer choral life in Turkey.

Choral conducting is an improving area of study, despite some unsuccessful attempts at setting up academic depart-ments in the recent past. There is no choral conducting department yet, but the choral conductors of the country mainly come from a music teaching background. In the last years, there have been new steps to build up training for cho-ral conductors in cities like Istanbul, Çanakkale, and Ankara, but this is still in an emerging position. However, well-known teachers and pedagogues like Volker Hempfling, Brady Allred, Elisenda Carrasco, Panda van Proosdij, and many more have visited the country in recent years.

Looking at professional choral life, we see a limited but very solid structure: State Choir Turkey in Ankara. The choir has been present for 28 years, performed in numerous countries, recorded many CDs, and worked with all the major orchestras of the country. Apart from the State Choir, the Radio Choir in Ankara has also been active, not to mention that the profes-sional choirs of the State Operas are also part of the choral life.

Choral composition in Turkey is a challenging field for two reasons: Firstly, the musical heritage of the country is not easy to adapt to the western idiom, and secondly, many compos-ers have had difficult times getting their works performed by choirs. Yet, many famous composers have contributed to the choral repertoire; to name some of them, Ahmed Adnan Say-gun with folk songs and the first Turkish oratorio, ‘Yunus Emre’, performed in UN Headquarters New York under the baton of Leopold Stokowski; Ulvi Cemal Erkin with folk songs and folk-style compositions; Muammer Sun with folk songs and larger works for orchestra and choir; Nevit Kodallı and Erdal Tuğcular with folk songs; and Hasan Uçarsu with many original compo-sitions, including commissions from the Esoterics (Seattle, US) and BALTA Chamber Choir (LV).

As seen in this brief overview, Turkey has a very rich choral life and it offers very interesting opportunities for the Euro-pean choral world with its unique musical tradition, newly founded young choirs, dynamic organisations, and festivals. I would strongly encourage choral music lovers to learn more about Turkish choral music, visit festivals, initiate exchanges between European and Turkish choirs, create a bilateral flow of repertoire—and sing some Turkish songs to get a taste of the culture.

Burak Onur ErdemChoral ConductorEuropean Choral Association-Europa Cantat board member


engl

ishnews

New Board, Music Commission and Youth CommitteeIn November 2015 the members of ECA-EC elected a new Board in Helsinki: President: Gábor Móczár (Hungary), 1st Vice-President: Carlo Pavese (Italy),2nd Vice-President and chair of the Music Commission: Jan Schumacher (Germany),3rd Vice-President: Daphne Wassink (The Netherlands),Treasurer: Koenraad De Meulder (Belgium)Further members of the Board: Burak Onur Erdem (Turkey), Marti Ferrer (Spain), Reijo Kekkonen (Finland), Victoria Liedbergius (Norway), Loti Piris Niño (Belgium), Patrick Secchiari (Switzerland), Kaie Tanner (Estonia), Jean-Claude Wilkens (France)

On November 15th the newly elected Board of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat appointed the members of the new Music Commission:Jan Schumacher (Germany - chair, Vice-Presi-dent of ECA-EC)Marleen Annemans (Belgium)Filippo Maria Bressan (Italy)Agnes Erdély (Hungary)Cecilia Martin-Löf (Sweden)Burak Onur Erdem (Turkey,ECA-EC Board)Raul Talmar (Estonia)Jean-Claude Wilkens (France, ECA-EC Board)Jim Daus Hjernøe (Denmark)

In January 2016 the Board of ECA-EC appoin-ted a new Youth Committee:Flannery Ryan, Germany / Sascha Sopper, Austria / Silvija Prockyte, Lithuania / Sophie Cottet, France / Klara Koradin, Slovenia / Ruben Smits, Netherlands. In addition the Estonian Choral Association will appoint a young person who will serve as a link to the EUROPA CANTAT Festival in Tallinn in 2018.At their first meeting in Montecatini in April 2016, the members of the Youth Committee elected Sascha Sopper as their chair.

Central-Eastern European Centre The EUROPA CANTAT Festival in Pécs 2015 opened up a number of pathways to Central and South Eastern European countries. It was therefore decided in spring 2016 to move the Central Eastern European Centre of ECA-EC from Pomáz to Pécs, to the magnificent Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, one of the most successful results of the 2010 European Capi-tal of Culture year in the city. The Centre will thus be able to count a solid infrastructural background for choral events and a long term partnership.

The regional centre of ECA-EC for Central-Eas-tern Europe can be reached through Gábor Móczár, [email protected]

The Baroque experience Are you over 50, free to travel outside school holiday periods and hungry for baroque mu-sique, baroque venues and high quality food? Then you should check out this project:BAROQUE LIVE - Sing-along concerts for singers “50+”, baroque concerts and culinary experiences – music, culture & cuisine in the European Region Danube-Vltava.

After a first series of events in March and April 2016, you can look forward to a rich variety of concerts in September and October 2016. Find out more on http://www.barocklive.eu/en/

Since issue 3/2015 of ECmagazine was pu-blished, a lot has happened. Many of our readers may have seen some of the news below in one of our electronic newsletters or on Facebook, but others have no access to these digital media and will be happy to be updated here.

ECA-EC Youth Committee 2016 © ECA-EC

ECA-EC Board 2016 © ECA-EC


Or sign up for the newsletter here: http://www.barocklive.eu/newsletter-en/

This activity is part of the project “Baroque Experience” which has received funding from the European Union’s COSME Programme (2014-2020), a project coordinated by the Linz Tourist Board (Austria) in which the Europe-an Choral Association – Europa Cantat is a partner.

VOICE chosen as success storyThe European Cooperation project “VOICE - Vision on Innovation for Choral Music in Europe” has been selected by the European Commission as a “Success Story”:“Success stories” are finalised projects that have distinguished themselves by their impact, contribution to policy-making, innovative results and/or creative approach and can be a source of inspiration for others. The choice of [the] project as a success story was made on the basis of a selection process according to rigorous criteria regarding the quality, relevance and results of [the] project.

These are of course great news for the European Choral Association ! Europa Cantat and the 14 partners involved in the project. But it is first and foremost a recognition of the importance of the choral field in Europe (37 million singers, according to our Singing Eu-rope study) and of its ability to cooperate and develop innovative approaches. It will likely contribute to a renewed awareness of the role of collective singing in building a European space based on fundamental human values such as inter cultural exchange, sharing arti-stic excellence, direct participation to artistic activities and musical education.

www.thevoiceproject.eu Download the free “Singing Europe” report (French and German summaries available) on www.singingeurope.org

European Perspectives on Music EducationWe contributed an article to the most recent book of the European Association for Music in Schools - EAS, presenting the VOICE project and our approach to European Cooperation. Discover all the rich contributions in this volume published by Helbling Verlag.For more information see https://easwebsite.wordpress.com/

IMC Music Rights Award to Fayha ChoirWe are proud to report that the Fayha choir, member of ECA-EC, has been selected as the laureate of the 2015 IMC Music Rights Awards. The award was handed over in Rabat, Morocco, on November 11th 2015, during the opening concert of the music market “Visa for Music”.

The Fayha was nominated by the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat because of the extensive social work the choir has been doing over the last years, especially in the field of singing with refugee children, but also setting up school choirs, bringing Muslim and Christian young people peacefully together in one choir, offering learning opportunities to young people in the region and last but not least, organizing the first International Lebanese Choir festival for the promotion of peace and understanding.

The jury of the Music Rights Awards of the International Music Council, chaired by Gary Ingle (USA), recognized the extraordinary work the Fahya Choir has been doing for many years in Lebanon, often under difficult circumstances, promoting choral music as an art form but also as a social tool.

More on http://fayhachoir.org

Why are cultural networks important?We international cultural networks come to-gether on a regular basis to share experiences and knowhow, to increase our cooperation and to discuss how we can better support the cultural sector. “The Value of International Cultural Networks”,which you can find on our Website, is our statement of why we are here and why we intend to stay. You are welcome to share and spread the message! #culturenetworks

Culture at the forefront of the European project In February 2016 the European Choral Asso-ciation - Europa Cantat joined the European Alliance for Culture and the Arts which publis-hed an appeal to put Culture at the forefront of the European project. The appeal is based on the fact that the European Union finds its basis in a shared culture, which should be seen as strength, and that Culture and the arts are relevant for the quality of our life and the European project.

Read more on: https://artsculture2030alli-ance.wordpress.com/

Norway‘s alliance of choral organisations

On january 18th 2016 all of Norway‘s major choral associations and the Norwegian asso-ciation of choral conductors signed a letter of cooperation and united under a forum named Koralliansen (The Choral Alliance). The-re has been cooperation between choral as-sociations in Norway in various forms before, but this is the first time all of the associations are united in one forum. The seven organi-zations of the alliance together represent 66.000 choral singers and will meet regurarly for discussion and work together on shared political issues and projects. A more formal structure of cooperation will be discussed in further meetings.“

June 2012 -

May 2015

Using the VOICE in common singing is an

educational, social and artistic phenome-

non that secures intercultural understan-

ding, social integration and respect for

others, contributing to the physical and

mental health of citizens and therefore to

the society in which they live and work.

(Memorandum of the Conference on

Singing and Music Education, Vilnius, 2009)

„

„

VOICE is coordinated by the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat (Germany) in cooperation with Chorverband Österreich (Austria), Exper-tisecentrum Stem (Belgium), Koor&Stem (Belgium), Cultural Movement of Limassol „Epilogi“ (Cyprus), UČPS (Czech Republic), À Cœur Joie (France), Polyfollia (France), KÓTA and Central-Eastern European Centre (Hungary), the ZSÖK-Zsolnay Heritage Management Nonprofit Ltd (Hungary), FENI-ARCO (Italy), Moviment Coral Català and Mediterranean Office for Choral Singing (Spain), IFAC (France), Länsmusiken (Sweden 2012 to 2013) and the University of York (UK), as well as many other associate partners including all member organisations of the European Choral Association – Europa Cantat

The many associate partners include:

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR CHORAL MUSIC

Pictures: Frontpage: Polyfollia (Sylvain Guichard), FENIARCO - Alpe Adria Cantat, Epilogi;page 5: Pécs Cantat 2010, Chorverband Österreich, À Cœur Joie, Polyfollia (Sylvain Guichard), Chorverband Österreich, UCPS, Chorverband Österreich

www.thevoiceproject.eu


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DCINY ProductionThe Music of Karl Jenkins: A Concert for PeaceJonathan Griffith, ConductorJanuary 18, 2016 at Carnegie HallPhoto by Nan Melville

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Save the datesCROSS THE LINE

Utrecht (NL) 11-13 November 2016

Conference, General Assembly 2016 and Membership Day of the European Choral

Association-Europa Cantat

Cross the line is an encouragement: an encouragement to connect, to try new

things and to look ahead and next to you.

Membership day and General Assembly of the European Choral Association

(for members)Annual conference (open to all)

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