On the occasion of Christmas and of the celebrations for the centenary of Giacomo Puccini's death, the ‘Bonamici’ School of Music and Fondazione Pisa offer citizens the ‘Bonamici’ Voices and White Hands Choir's Season's Greetings Concert, an event that pays particular attention to the theme of inclusion and disability. The appointment is for Saturday 14 December at 5 p.m. at the Auditorium (free admission with compulsory booking through the e-mail prenotazioni@scuolabonamici.it ).
The same event will be held in Rome on 20 December on the initiative of the Culture Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, which has invited the Pisan choral group to perform at Castel Sant'Angelo, including the Concert in the Christmas events promoted and organised by the Chamber.
The ‘Bonamici’ Children's Choir is made up of fifty children and young people aged between six and sixteen. It was founded in 2004 by Angelica Ditaranto and is still directed by her. The group's particularity lies in its focus on inclusion, through the translation of the sung repertoire into LIS, Italian sign language. This allows the music to be accessible to people who are deaf or have other types of disabilities. This integration and socialisation project is based on the special education programme in the Sistema founded by Antonio Abreu in Venezuela in 1975, which takes care of the inclusion and emancipation of street children.
On the occasion of the centenary of Puccini's death, the Choir tackled a unique work in Italy, translating into LIS pieces by the Tuscan composer written and conceived for children's choir.
The choristers, who are all able-bodied, thus express themselves through hand gestures while performing the pieces by wearing white gloves so that the gesture is more visible. The performance is thus enriched by an interpretation through which the gesture in LIS follows the melodic line and duration of the sounds, thus enabling a deaf person not only to understand the meaning of the text but also to imagine the music in its infinite expressive potential.
Music is accessible through the auditory channel as well as through the visual channel, overcoming barriers and conventions. The 50 children, led by Conductor Angelica Ditaranto who accompanies them in the performance while also wearing white gloves, work with deep awareness and seriousness to ensure that the message is clear, harmonious and complete for the listening or observing audience. The same kind of translation was carried out on Christmas songs from the traditional repertoire to convey a message of care and attention towards others at Christmas and to raise awareness among the younger generations to respect disability and frailty.
During the Concert on Saturday, 14 December, listeners will be taken on a fascinating journey through the most famous Christmas melodies of the European and non-European tradition, from sacred pieces in Italian from the 17th century to Christmas Carols from the Anglo-Saxon repertoire. In addition, it will be possible to listen to Puccini pieces such as ‘Là sui monti dell'Est’, the evocative piece for children's voices that seals the entrance of the princess Turandot in the opera of the same name, the sweet lullaby ‘Sogno d'or’, a melody reused by Puccini in ‘La Rondine’, and a very young solo voice that will intone ‘Io de’ sospiri’, the delicate intervention of the shepherd boy in the last Act of “Tosca”.
