Here at Banff where I am continuing work on the opera (thanks to the BC Arts Council), I had the great pleasure of meeting the conductor of a ‘refugee choir’. The conductor (whose name I shall keep private) works in a small city in Turkey where they work with refugees.
As this article on ‘crisis choirs’ articulates, this conductor’s valuable work allows people under tremendous stress amid dislocation and trauma, to have ‘ a break from their ongoing stresses by expressing themselves through music, sharing songs that inspire them, sharing songs from home, connecting with positive memories and connecting with others, even if they don’t speak the same language.’
