/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC-ARGENTINA: Preserving Andean Folk Traditions

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 28 2003 (IPS) - An original new course of studies has been created in northwestern Argentina to preserve traditional Andean music by training ”socio-musical promoters” who will go out into local communities with the aim of strengthening native cultural identities.

In 2002, 40 high school graduates enrolled in the two-and-a-half year course, in which the students take class eight hours a day, four days a week.

”The idea is for the students to take their new knowledge out to the people in the region and contribute to recreating community life, in order to strengthen cultural identities and collective self-esteem through research” and preservation of rural folk music and traditions, the director of the new course of studies, Susana Moreau, told IPS.

The epicentre of this new cultural phenomenon is the city of Tilcara in the northwestern Andes mountain province of Jujuy, located around 1,700 kms from Buenos Aires.

Jujuy and neighbouring provinces have a strong indigenous presence, and the region’s typical Andean sounds and instruments have little in common with the tango and other musical traditions of the Rio de la Plata region, including Buenos Aires and the surrounding area.

The Andean Education and Culture Centre in Tilcara is supported by the Musique Esperance international federation, set up by prominent Argentine pianist Miguel Estrella.

Estrella was named a goodwill ambassador by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and has received rewards and recognition for his humanitarian work from France’s Culture Ministry and several universities.

Musique Esperance has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as major offices in France, Argentina, Belgium and Bolivia, and more than 50 branches in Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

The international federation’s mission is to defend and strengthen human rights, peace and the promotion of youth via music, by recognising local cultures and providing access to music by the poorest communities in the developing world.

Estrella, who says he has put his art at the service of peace, justice and human rights, spends much of his time bringing music into the lives of the poor and dispossessed around the world.

One of his best-known initiatives was the creation of the Orchestra for Peace, which brings together young Arab and Israeli musicians. He also gives over 50 benefit or ”solidarity” concerts in schools, hospitals and prisons in different countries every year.

Since Musique Esperance opened its office in Tilcara in 1987, it has been involved in projects like musical workshops for children, the production of traditional handmade instruments, and music therapy for children with psychological and motor skills problems, as well as permanent effects of malnutrition.

One of the projects is the Andean Musical Embassy, which brings together around 40 youngsters between the ages of 12 and 24 from Jujuy, the neighbouring province of Antofagasta in Chile, and the central Bolivian province of Cochabamba, along with musicians who play native Andean instruments.

It was the Embassy that gave rise to the new two-and-a-half year course in which the ”socio-musical promoters” are being trained.

”Small communities around Tilcara asked us to take our work to the more remote villages, and in order to do that, we needed people with special training,” said Moreau.

The training of the ”promoters” is backed by the Switzerland-based Avina Foundation, which works in partnership with civil society and business leaders in initiatives toward sustainable development in Latin America; the Antorchas Foundation in Buenos Aires, which is involved in the conservation of Argentina’s cultural and historical patrimony; the French Culture Ministry; and UNESCO.

The new course of study immediately awakened interest. The 40 students who enrolled are between the ages of 18 and 25, and come from 15 towns and villages in Jujuy. Twenty-five of them are from Tilcara, and the rest are given housing and board in the Andean Cultural Centre Sunday through Thursday.

The students have been given scholarships by the foundations that are helping to sponsor the project. The scholarships granted to those from outside the town also cover the costs of room and board.

”The students come from low-income socioeconomic backgrounds and arrive with some knowledge of music,” said Moreau. ”But without this course they would not have the possibility to develop their talents and skills through the range of classes we offer.”

”I found the idea of linking humanism and music to guide communities towards rescuing their identities and the values of their native land interesting,” schoolteacher Silvina Luque, one of the students, told IPS.

Among the classes taught by the staff of 15 professors are group psychology, sociology, anthropology and art history of Latin America based on the major social movements.

The course also offers workshops and seminars on music theory, choir practice, corporeal expression, dance, and instruction in playing traditional Andean instruments, such as the ”quena” (a kind of recorder), the ”zampoña” (an Andean pan flute), and the ”charango” (a small Andean guitar).

The training of the ”promoters” will include two years of studies in Tilcara and six-month internships in schools, community centres or orphanages and old people’s homes in the region. Those who are interested in becoming rural music teachers in the province will take an additional six months of coursework.

The job outlook for the future ”promoters” remains an unknown factor. Moreau said local governments and community organisations have committed themselves to hiring those who graduate. But she added that ”we’ll have to see if that really happens.”

At any rate, the students are offered a unique chance to ”open themselves up to ‘musical languages’ from around the world, starting at home, with the music of their families, the songs that their grandparents sang, and the music played on instruments from their own region, rather than starting out with Beethoven,” she underlined.