Models of child choral education: between formal and non-forma

Abstract

Those responsible for education and culture in several European countries have passed the alarm on the lack of new voices and the danger of extinction of existing choral groups. Nevertheless, some choral institutions are carrying out intense quarry labour, supported by their tradition and historical prestige as well as by the quality organization and infrastructures that are available to them. This happens with some Basque choirs and choral societies which attract a great number of infantile and juvenile voices, thus guaranteeing somehow that there will be a new generation of voices. Specifically, this research work studied the infantile choirs belonging to four choral organisations (Orfeón Donostiarra, Coral Andra Mari, Sociedad Coral de Bilbao and Asociación Musical Luis Dorao) to go deeper into the clues that explain their success: the human, technical and didactic resources that they use on a daily basis. By using semi-structured interviews, the point of view of the protagonists themselves (the children and young adult choir singers, the directors and those responsible for the organisations) was examined about the kind of relationships that these choirs have with the different formal and non-formal environments.