It is a pleasure to receive Shalom Magazine, which always brings new
reports and experiences full of love and commitment. To receive Shalom is
to fill one's heart with happiness and hope.
I would like to share with you a recent publication we issued about
teaching the "tiple" - a native Colombian musical instrument.
The Medellin School for Popular Arts is an institution dedicated to
teaching dance, music, theatre and plastic arts, based on our national
folklore. The school, which educates children, youngsters and adults, is a
unique project in Colombia and it has been revitalized based on all the
philosophical principles learned at Gold Meir Mount Carmel International
Training Centre in Haifa.
We, the graduates of MCTC, try to bring into our daily lives all the
experiences acquired in your beautiful and unforgettable country.
Shalom,
Lucia Velez Garcia
MCTC, 1982
Director
School for Popular Arts
POB 095987
Medellin
COLOMBIA
About the School:
During its 30 years of existence, the goal of the School for Popular Arts
has been the integrated education of students in the areas of dance, music,
theater and plastic arts. We use an approach based on folklore in order to
revitalize and value our national and regional cultural memory and to
strengthen the students' identification with it so they can contribute to
the social and cultural development of our country via artistic-pedagogic
projects based on Colombia's history and popular culture. We work on the
development of the teacher/artist who will be able to fulfill his or her
profession from the pre-school to the university level.
The School for Popular Arts is an educational institution attached to the
Department of Education and Culture of the Medellin Municipality, and we
have 3,500 students participating in various programs:
Primary School of the Arts: A program designed for children from 7 to 10
years old, where they receive specific training in dance, music (they learn
techniques for playing the guitar and the tiple), theatre and plastic arts.
Workshops: A weekly program on Saturdays for ages seven years and up. This
is a specialized five-year program. The seven-year-olds begin with an
introductory year including an extracurricular program where they get
acquainted with the various basic subjects offered by the school. After
this first year each student chooses his preferred field of study,
commencing a four-year training.
These youngsters then form groups, are group leaders or dedicate themselves
to the professional improvement of their chosen art.
For adults, the School for Popular Arts offers a professional program to
acquire a master's degree in dance, music, theatre and plastic arts, in
conjunction with the Pontificia Bolivariana University.
Special courses in non-formal education are offered for a period of three
semesters for children, youngsters, adults and the elderly.
We believe that only the enjoyment and systematic performance in the arts
can achieve the transformation of people into sensitive, caring and
creative beings.
About the Book:
Methods in the Tiple, by Elkin Perez Alvarez, with an Introduction by Luis
Perez Gutierrez, former Secretary of Education of Medellin's Municipality
(1994-1997), former Rector of the University of Antioquia, and present
mayoral candidate for Medellin's Municipality.
Introduction More Music for the Schools
There is senseless estrangement between the school system and culture. Both
move in different directions contradicting the principle that school is the
first cultural space of society, and the teacher the great mediator of
collective culture.
A consequence of this estrangement is the almost total disappearance of
music from the schools' curricula and a lack of musical sensibility in
society as a whole. When the educational system intensely stimulates music
appreciation, all society will be delightfully "contaminated" by musicians
and music. A possible explanation for the reason we experience so many
severe communal conflicts can be that we have created communities cut off
by denying youngsters the essential element of music. No human being who
lives music can be violent.
This method of teaching the tiple intends first to restore its beautiful
sounds and bring it back into the school. Learning the tiple has the
double purpose: it serves as a practical approach to studying music and in
the process an instrument that is part of our most profound feelings and of
our own essence is restored. When we hear these exquisitely orchestrated
sounds emanating from the tiple, we feel emotion and pride in this noble
instrument.
We hope that this book by Maestro Elkin Perez Alvarez will amplify
the beautiful sounds of the tiple .
About the Tiple:
The tiple is a fundamental part of Colombia's social and cultural life. It
is an original, independent creation of the central region of the country
at the beginning of the 19th century. Since then it has gone through many
changes. Although ignored by many dictionaries and catalogues, the
Colombian tiple has many unique characteristics that place it apart from
other string instruments. Unlike other instruments of the colonialist
period, the tiple is an authentic product of the popular expression of
the Republic of Colombia. From the time that the Colombian tiple appeared
in the history of the country, music and dance became more defined. It is
impossible to separate the tiple's brilliant sound from the artistic
context, so familiar in the vast majority of our works of folklore.