A school year to recount a seventeen-year dialogue without ever interrupting the fruitful encounter, in music, between cultures and experiences. It is the long journey of the Multiethnic Orchestra of Arezzo which is approaching summer after dedicating the nine months between autumn, winter and spring to the story of itself and its journey at numerous primary schools in the area, through concert lessons and workshops .
«We are closing an extraordinary year – commented the President of the OMA Luca Roccia Baldini – which allowed us to meet many students from countless countries together with their precious teachers. Among them, we are sure, we also met those who we will greet in a few years as one of our musicians, as has often happened to us. Even now we have in our staff, and who participates as a special teacher in our concert lessons, those who once met us at school, bringing to today’s students his experience as a musician but above all as a citizen of the world”.
Important numbers, therefore, which tell of an immense work in the territory, enhancing the experience of each individual student together with the need for self-talk, listening, dialogue, inclusion. All in a special context, such as that of primary school, where reality and everyday life still pass through the body, the gesture, the voice and the meeting, the game and the embrace, waiting for adolescence to lead to that immersion in virtual relationships favored by the omnipresent telephone. A precious context for promoting a meeting that the OMA does not shy away from by bringing its music to schools, creating moments of great emotional and educational impact for the young participants with the opportunity to discover musical instruments from different cultures, learn traditional melodies and Above all, experience the importance of imagining bridges rather than barriers and of working together also thanks to differences.
Almost 1,700 students therefore took part in the workshops and concert lessons of the Multiethnic Orchestra of Arezzo in the school year just ended. With thanks to the many institutes that joined the project: the Istituto Comprensivo “G. Vasari” with the “U. Nofri” of Castiglion Fibocchi and “Monte Bianco” of Arezzo; the Omnicomprehensive Institute “G. Marcelli” of Foiano della Chiana with the “V. Fossombroni” and “G. Galileo”; the IC “F. Severi” with the “A. Tavanti” of Policiano and “A. Curina” of Arezzo; the “IV Novembre” IC with the “Masaccio” and “Sante Tani” primary schools and with the students of the lower secondary school; the “SM Bianchini” nursery school, the “S. Antonio” and the “M. Baskets” of Arezzo; the IC “G. Papini” of Castelnuovo Berardenga with the students of the Lower Secondary School; the IC of Poppi; the IC “A. Cesalpino” of Arezzo with the students of the musical primary and lower secondary schools; the Liceo Classico Musicale “F. Petrarca” of Arezzo. With thanks to the many partners of the projects: Municipality of Arezzo – Department of Immigration, Integration and Equal Opportunities for the “Sarabanda” project, Officine della Cultura, Oxfam Italia for the “Comuni Talenti” project and finally Campo Base, a young Social Cooperative dedicated to training and support activities especially for young people. Finally, with thanks to those of the OMA musicians who curated the workshops: Mariel Tahiraj, Natalia Marcalain, Daniel Boeke, Gianni Micheli and Enrico Fink.
Continuing on this path is today’s commitment of the Multiethnic Orchestra of Arezzo as suggested by Baldini: «Our promise is to continue to promote the values of inclusion and intercultural dialogue through music and this is why I invite the readers at the next appointment in the city with the OMA, or “The carnival of insects” by Stefano Benni, a melody that makes you think with a smile and that you are seeing us collaborate with Amanda Sandrelli And Paolo Giovannucci. In Arezzo we will represent it at the Medici Fortress on Sunday 21 July at 9.00 pm as part of the Smart Festival in collaboration with the Guido d’Arezzo Foundation and the Summer in Fortress events. We are waiting for you!
Officine della Cultura Press Office
