AFRICA/MOROCCO - Music, an instrument of joy and fraternity for the lives of children

Saturday, 11 September 2021 music fraternity culture fratelli tutti dialogue

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Fez (Agenzia Fides) - In the suffering time of the pandemic, music can be, especially for children, a joyful, uplifting experience, capable of giving new hope. With this conviction, the World Youth Orchestra Foundation brings the “WYO4CHILDREN” project to Morocco, thanks to the support of the "Culture and Art Foundation", based in Rome. The initiative, of an intercultural and interreligious nature, aimed at girls from the "Childhood Protection Center for Girls" in Fez, will allow young participants to find a dimension of joy and happiness, through the experience of making music. "The universal language of music can fill the educational, human and social void caused by the health and economic crisis, while helping to reduce the distance between people, thanks to the joy of fraternity, of being together and making music together", explains the World Youth Orchestra Foundation. The beneficiaries will be 27 young students from the “Childhood Protection Center for Girls” in Fez, with very difficult family and personal stories behind them. Rachid Alami and Ismail Atik, teachers who are part of the large family of the World Youth Orchestra around the world, will take care of them, among others. The girls will be followed from March 2021 to March 2022 in a long journey that includes 160 hours of singing and musical preparatory lessons and 240 hours of guitar. "The Italian musical culture - they explain - will merge with Moroccan culture", in an experience of communion between the peoples and cultures of the Mediterranean.
"The arts play a leading role in cultural and spiritual growth and in the formation of conscience, eliminating differences in favor of social inclusion and dialogue between peoples", explains prof. Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele, of the Culture and Art Foundation. "In this moment of global crisis - he continues - the WYO4CHILDREN project aims to encourage the development of creativity, and at the same time allow teachers to make music in a period in which concert activity is suspended. To the message of universal harmony of which the World Youth Orchestra is the bearer, is therefore added today that of music as a balm for the soul and a symbol of restart after Covid-19".
Maestro Damiano Giuranna, Founder and musical director of WYO explains: "The World Youth Orchestra works to spread a message of peace and fraternity among peoples. This year, in the spirit of "Fratelli Tutti", our commitment takes on an even deeper meaning: art, music, essential food for the human soul, is in fact a powerful tool to face the current crisis with a message and a special experience of brotherhood and solidarity that goes beyond all barriers".
The World Youth Orchestra celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2021. Twice a year the Orchestra involves about 100 talented young musicians from universities, conservatories and academies from five continents. During its life, the World Youth Orchestra has carried out an intense artistic activity spreading a message of peace and brotherhood in numerous countries of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Born on September 15, 2001, a few days after the September 11 attacks, from 2002 to 2011 it was a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, while in 2005 it was invited to the United Nations Headquarters. (PA) (Agenzia Fides,11/9/2021)