María Victoria Alcaraz, General Director of the Teatro Colón, together with José María del Corral, Scholas Worldwide Director, and Domingo Romano, representative of the Asociación Civil Generarte, were present to sign the agreement.

The program, aimed at young people who are immersed in the world of music and art, seeks to carry out a series of itinerant experiences throughout the country by a team of Scholas Occurrentes educators and teachers from the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón.

Last week, in the Golden Hall of the Teatro Colón, an agreement was signed between the Teatro Colón, Scholas Occurrentes and the Asociación Civil Generarte for the implementation of an artistic and cultural cooperation program.

Among the many actions to be carried out jointly, this agreement between the Teatro Colón and Scholas Occurrentes expands the possibilities of artistic education throughout the country, with integration being a substantial part of its program.

María Victoria Alcaraz, General Director of the Teatro Colón, said: “We are very excited to sign this agreement of artistic and cultural cooperation with Scholas Occurrentes, an institution whose work around the world is a true inspiration for all of us, and with whom we share the same principles and values based on education, culture and equal opportunities” and then added: “The mutual collaboration proposed by this project between Scholas and Teatro Colón is going to allow us to strengthen the links with our community by building, throughout our country, new meeting spaces for young people, through three fundamental pillars such as art, music and education.”

The artistic and cultural cooperation program will seek to carry out a series of itinerant experiences throughout the country by a team of Scholas Occurrentes educators and teachers from the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón. Among the localities and regions that the program will reach are the Impenetrable (Chaco), Córdoba, Barrio 31 in the City of Buenos Aires, the Riachuelo basin (Villa Fiorito) and the outlying neighborhoods of Mar del Plata.

José María del Corral, Scholas’ world director, said at the signing of the agreement: “In these times, Argentina needs a good orchestra more than excellent soloists”. He added, “For Pope Francis, art is the new education that recovers the origin, it is what makes it possible for a child to think what he feels and what he does, to feel what he thinks and what he does, and to do what he thinks and what he feels. That is what some call the competence of the future”.

Domingo Romano, representative of Asociación Civil Generarte, shared: “We are very honored to be able to sign this agreement with Scholas Occurentes, with whom we have been working for many years, and the Teatro Colón, which we consider the most important opera house in the world. As a civil association we work in culture and education trying to spread human values through art as a tool for social transformation.”

The recipients of the artistic cooperation program will be young people who are somehow immersed in the world of music and art. Conservatory students, participants of local choirs, among other activities and spaces oriented to adolescents and young people. In each destination, and over three days, they will meet at the program’s School where they will participate in different activities such as simultaneous workshops in different artistic disciplines and the collective creation of a mural that brings together all the artistic languages explored. The School, in each location, will end with a concert in the atrium of a church or cathedral performed by the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón’s own organizations such as the Academic Orchestra, the Academic Camerata, the Brass Ensemble, the Wind Ensemble and the Baroque Ensemble of the Orchestral Academy. The presentation of such concerts will provide the opportunity to work together with local choirs or instrumental ensembles for children and youth.

Prior to any series of trips to implement the program, there will be two days of training for the Teatro Colón team in Scholas pedagogy. There, the teams will incorporate the languages of play and art in order to carry out the experiences with the young people during the development of the School.

The Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón (ISATC) was created in 1960 and its mission is to train professionals in lyrical, choreographic, musical -symphonic and chamber- and experimental art. Currently, under the direction of Marcelo Birman, it offers courses in Dance, Singing, Orchestral Academy, Opera Stage Direction, Opera Musical Preparation and Characterization. The students of the orchestral academy career form the Academic Orchestra of the Instituto Superior de Arte, in order to acquire symphonic practice in their training by performing concerts at the Teatro Colón and other venues in the country.

Scholas Occurrentes is an International Organization of Pontifical Right promoted by Pope Francis, present in 190 countries in the five continents and that through its network integrates half a million educational networks. Its mission is to respond