Foro Coral Americano

The next Foro Coral Americano will be held when the general and sanitary conditions allow us to guarantee the health of all participants. Stay in touch.

Dr. Tim Sharp (Oklahoma - USA): "Sources and arrangements of American folk songs and spirituals"
Dr. Tim Sharp is a composer, conductor, performer and Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA)
In an interactive session, Tim Sharp discussed the original sources of the American folk song in the areas of Spirituals, Songs of the Shaker tradition, hymns in geometric notation and Moravian choral music. Workshop participants heard arrangements of these folk songs and were exposed to different proposals to create their own arrangements from these sources. Sharp, who also plays the banjo, demonstrated these songs by singing live and with recordings.
Participants heard choral arrangements of these popular songs, and ideas were presented to create authentic choral arrangements from the resources.

Dr. Diana Sáez (Puerto Rico - USA): "From Puerto Rico to Argentina: the challenges of teaching folk music to our choir"
Latin American music is very diverse. It is the music of many countries and regions with different cultural influences. Diana Sáez spoke about the challenges and benefits of teaching folkloric or folklore-based choral music. How should we approach the investigation before presenting the work to the choir? How should we prepare the choir during the rehearsal? What can we learn from the work besides music? Using examples from different countries, Diana Sáez addressed the issue in an interactive and entertaining way.

Dr. Adam J. Con (Victoria - Canadá) "The Choir Conductor and Singer using mind, body and soul"
"Music is more than notes in motion; music is notes in emotion!" This idea of Adam Con summarizes the process of connecting the singer and the director through a kinesthetic approach. Once the music is in the body, the singers understand how to respond to the director's postures and gestures on a level that goes beyond the cognitive. The conductors learned how to transform the choral experience using gestures based on this holistic common understanding by combining the philosophies of Dalcroze, Laban and Rodney Eichenberger, with those of martial arts and Tai Chi Chuan.
Various activities that enriched and expanded our vision of American choral music

Dr. Daniel Afonso (Brazil - USA): "Stylistic trends of the Brazilian choral repertoire in the twentieth century influenced by folklore and popular music"

José Galván Castañeda (México): "The Power of Choral Singing - The importance of the spiritual dimension of our singing and its connection with popular and folk music"

David Ramírez (Costa Rica): "Choral Culture of Costa Rica and Central America"

Workshop: "Three visions of Venezuelan music through the choral arrangement" In charge of Lourdes Sánchez (Venezuela) with the LicMu Vocal pilot choir of the National University of Villa María, directed by Cristina Gallo and Gustavo Espada. The closure was a public performance at the Juan Victoria Auditorium.

"Composers and arrangers of choral music. Challenges and demands" Diana Sáez – Eduardo Ferraudi – Hugo de la Vega - José Galván Castañedacc

"Repertoire. Approaches to contemporary music" T.J. Harper – Eduardo Malachevski – Ricardo Portillo – Susana Igayara - Víctor Alarcón

Tim Sharp (US): reading of "Come Away to the Skies", from his "High Lonesome Mass".
Diana Sáez (Puerto Rico)
Adam Con (Canadá)
Ana Laura Rey (Uruguay)
Hugo de la Vega (Argentina)
Víctor Alarcón (Chile)

Coro Arturo Beruti. Conductor: María Elina Mayorga. "One voice, two looks"
Guest conductors: Dr. T.J. Harper - Lic. Lourdes Sánchez.

"Three visions of Venezuelan music through the choral arrangement" - Closure
Pilot choir: Vocal LicMu, UNVM. Conductors: Cristina Gallo and Gustavo Espada.
Guest conductor: Lic. Lourdes Sánchez.

Concert / tribute to Gustavo "Cuchi" Leguizamón (1917 - 2000) and Maestro Hugo de la Vega. Guest artists: Cuchicheros (Córdoba, Argentina). Conductor: Juan Manuel Brarda.

Coro Universitario de Mendoza. Conductor: Silvana Vallesi. Latin American choral music.

The papers presented during the I AMERICAN SYMPOSIUM OF CORAL MUSIC have been published in a special edition of the Editorial of the Catholic University of Cuyo. We invite you to read the publication with attractive and diverse visions about "Popular and folk music in choral creation". You can see and/or download the magazine here.