European Suzuki Association - Teachers Newsletter Vol 38 2018

16 T his year’s European Suzuki Guitar Convention celebrated 25 years of Elio Galvagno’s Suzuki Guitar School ‘Chitarrissima’ located in Saluzzo, Italy. Interview with Elio Galvagno Twenty-five years of Chitarrissima in Saluzzo are a great achievement. Yes, in the past twenty-five years, 303 concerts were performed for free to the public with teachers and students of many nationalities. An audience of all ages could listen to the events offered in the extraordi- nary and marvellous context of the artistic treasures of the City of Saluzzo. This year there were participants from New York City and for the first time from Prague and Brno in the Czech Republic, as well as from many Italian regions and European countries. What was the distinctive and con- stant trait of Chitarrissima in all these years? Chitarrissima has had from the be- ginning a dual vocation: to tirelessly promote young people, their music, their profession and to commission new compositions. In the program I see the premiere performance of the musi cal fable "The bull Ferdinand" for all schools in the area. Can you tell me more? The fairytale for voice narrator and orchestra of guitars by the compos- er Mychal Gendron in 2007, besides being very interesting from the mu- sical and narrative point of view, has a great topicality. The Munro Leaf book published in 1936 was the subject of much attention and became a timeless anthem to peace and non-violence. Banned by Franco’s Spain, as long as the dictator was alive and burned in Hitler's Germany, the book was then printed and distributed to all German children as a symbolic gesture. Since then, the bull Fer- dinando continues to conquer the hearts of adults and children. Gandhi mentioned it among his favorite books. These concerts will give us the opportunity to establish a dialogue with the stu- dents on topics that I would say are very current. What was the theme of this year's Festival? Last year we wrote that we were ready for a second revolution: to change the thinking that talent is not innate, to change the belief that only some people can be wonderfully musical. It is the expression part of musical talent that we all possess and we can all be expressive: everyone, starting from the tenderest age, can therefore not only play, but ex- press themselves musically! Per- sonal expression is in fact the most precious, if not the only, reason to make music. From what you say it seems that making music for you is a prelude to a particular vision and aware- ness. Today, perhaps never as before, making music can become central to the future of societies. Re- searches undeniably say that where it is fully included in school curricula, returns are spectacular. Science and technology, mathe- matics and spoken and written languages are no longer sufficient. Only with music and with other per- forming arts will it be possible to develop the recognized qualities that are unanimously indispensable by experts to face current and fu- ture challenges: imagination, crea- tivity, flexibility and cooperation. What priorities do these qualities have in the current international education systems? I leave the answer to you. There are certainly important scholars in Italy in the various Departments of the Ministry of Education aware of the above, but completely unheard. We witness, little by little, inexora- bly, the crumbling of a tradition and a unique environment. Everything is left in the hands of willing individ- uals; the ancient African proverb "alone you go faster, together you go farther" fits perfectly with this situation today. Continuing in this way, not only will we not go far, but we will not be able to grasp and exploit the extraordinary opportu- nities that thousands of young Ital- ian musicians who are simply grad- uates ready to grow. Who makes music today, what role can it play? Those who make music today must be aware of its role. Dr Shinichi Suzuki knew how to bring his intui- tion, as a musician without fron- tiers, from the outskirts of a village in Japan to the center of the musi- cal world, completely revolutioniz- ing contemporary pedagogical re- flection. From the ONU Building he launched his vision for a peaceful future: music for everyone, as soon as possible. 2018 European Suzuki Guitar Convention Italy Elio Galvagno