The Sing’in concert on 25 June will feature music from around the world, including traditional songs and hits by Bobby McFerrin, Charles Aznavour, Adele and more. Led by choirmaster Paul Smith, this eclectic programme will include performances by a flautist, two sopranos, a champion beatboxer from Berlin (Mando) and pupils from the Gallieni primary school in Orgeval, a priority education district in Reims.
The Sing’In association is the French arm of the VOCES8 Foundation co-founded by British composer and choirmaster Paul Smith, which aims to promote “musical education for all.” To achieve this, the young conductor has created the VOCES8 method, which places singing at the heart of the educational journey and enables children to “shed their inhibitions, to open up and to challenge themselves in new ways.”
As production administrator and head of cultural initiatives for the Flâneries musicales de Reims Festival, Corinne Herbay has applauded the project and its “method for learning choral singing without the need to read music.” The method uses visual cues, gestures and simplified sheet music corresponding to short singing parts, and Paul Smith has brought his workshops to Europe, the USA and most recently to Asia.
For the 130 students in Years 5 and 6 (ages 9 – 11) at the Gallieni school, the preparation involved a series of workshops over the course of six months, culminating on 25 June. Since January, their six teachers have also received daily training and support in teaching choral singing through their contact with the young choirmaster. “With this project, it’s the experience for the kids that I find so inspiring,” comments Corinne Herbay: “their discovery of music, and everything it creates for them and their families.” In addition, the teachers report that the children are concentrating better during lessons, are more engaged in their schoolwork and are developing new social skills through this “huge collective project.” As the children take to the stage, the 600-seat hall will be full of spectators, including festival-goers and family members from the school – some of whom will be attending a concert of this size for the very first time. The project has had a profound impact on the neighbourhood’s social fabric.
Sing’In is made possible through the support of the ArsNova Philanthropic endowment fund, set up by Taittinger Champagne: “a financial partner, but first and foremost a devoted patron of the Flâneries Musicales de Reims festival,” as Corinne Herbay puts it.
Marie Rouvillois, head of the ArsNova Philanthropic Fund, explains the strategy applied: “We always take care to ensure that the support provided by ArsNova benefits projects that aren’t just ‘one-shot’ affairs; instead, we focus on actions that will bring genuine long-term benefits. We prefer to do fewer projects if this means the ones we do support can provide a more profound and enduring exposure to art.” For Sing’In, she appreciates “the project in its very essence, as well as the methodology applied – which moves away from old-school methods in order to make singing accessible to everyone. The final concert will be a joyous occasion for these children. For many of them it will be their first concert, and in many cases for their parents, too.”
The ArsNova Fund, chaired by Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, intends to gradually ramp up its involvement with the Reims University Hospital, as well as with a number of correctional facilities, always pursuing a long-term commitment. The partnership established with the Flâneries Musicales festival gives ArsNova access to a number of tickets for the concert: “we can then donate these places to associations working in the social sphere, who we support throughout the year via other programs,” explains Marie Rouvillois. Here once again, in order to ensure the work achieves its intended effect, the concert will be preceded by an event such as a workshop, meet-and-greet or a small conference, taking the time to show an alternative to rapid-fire cultural consumption.
