Ana María Raga
Encyclopedia
Ana María Raga is an internationally recognized choral conductor from Venezuela. She has been involved in the music world throughout her entire life as a pianist
, music composer
and arranger as well as a teacher dedicated to the training of future choral conductors. She has won several prizes as a choral conductor, pianist and composer. Her versatility stands out in particular in the area of choral conducting as evidenced in the leadership role she has assumed for various choral groups of divers profiles and the invitations she receives to hold workshops on Latin-American Music, Children Choral Music and Conducting Children Choirs in particular.
Under the auspices of the Aequalis Foundation, set up and presided over by her, she directs the following choirs: The women choir Aequalis Aurea; The Choral Project at the Humboldt School in Caracas for school age children and adolescents; Co-Conductor of the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela
(before Schola Cantorum de Caracas) together with Professor María Guinand
. It is one of the most important choral institutions in Venezuela and of long-standing and extensive national and international exposure.
and Frieder Bernius.
Currently she is pursuing her master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Simón Bolívar University, in Caracas, Venezuela.
(CAF) [Andean Development Corporation] in 8 countries. She has been a consultant to the Misión Música, managed by the Fundación del Estado para el Sistema Nacional de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela (FESNOJIV) National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela for the development of a “System of Symphonic Choirs”.
As a guest conductor and pedagogue Raga participates in numerous festivals and events in Europe
, Asia
, North
and South America
. In Venezuela she has given courses for Children Choir Directors in Caracas and the interior. She has held workshops on Children Choral Repertoire at the IV América Cantat (Caracas, Venezuela), at the IV Europa Cantat Junior (Vic, Spain) and at the V América Cantat (La Habana, Cuba, 2007) festivals. In Hungary she had given courses on Latin-American Children Choir Music for students of Choir Direction at the Liszt Academy of Music in collaboration with the Hungarian Radio Children’s Choir (Budapest, 2006). She has been invited to present workshops for children choir directors in León, Guanajuato, Mexico (2006) and on Latin-American Repertoire for Female Voices at the Busan Choral Festival and Competition in Korea (2007). In 2008 she attended an invitation to work with the choirs of the North American Choral Company
in Grand Rapids, Michigan
, USA and afterwards she held workshops for choir directors as well as a workshop on Latin-American Children Choir Music at the Sixth International Cedros UP Festival (FICUP). In 2009 she participated as a workshop leader in the fields of Children Choir Direction and Vocal Technique at the 13th edition of the Ágora Courses on Vocal Technique and Choir Direction in Segovia
, Spain
, organized by the Ágora Choir and sponsored by the Don Juan de Borbón Foundation. In August 2010 she organized a workshop on Latin-American Music for Mixed Choirs at the Alpe Adria Cantat Festival in Lignano, Italy.
In July 2009, the International Federation for Choral Music
invited her to join its organizing committee and to participate as a speaker at the International Music Education and Singing Conference. Her presentation dealt with the Social Impact of Choral Singing and offered valuable insights from projects in Venezuela and the Andean region.
Furthermore, she collaborates with international choral music research journals and publishers (see Publications).
, USA. Choirs participate at this festival only upon invitation. At this occasion, Raga’s choir obtained the First Prize in both categories in which it had been invited to compete. The choir went on to produce its CD, RAKU, under her direction. In 2000, Aequalis was one of the choirs that represented Venezuela at the Songbride 2000 project, created by Erkki Pohjola . In August 2001, Aequalis undertook a successful tour of Europe participating at the Vivace International Choral Festival in Veszprém
, Hungary
, where the choir obtained the Prize of the Audience; at the Festival László Lajtha in Köszeg
, Hungary, at The 2nd International Girls´ Choir Festival in Riga
, Latvia
and at The 7th Cristopher Summer Festival in Vilnius
, Lithuania
. In Hungary she directed together with Zsuzsana Graf the Aequalis Choir and the prestigious Angelica Girls’ Choir from Budapest
. Furthermore, during that same tour the choir presented successful concerts at important halls in Vienna (Austria), Prague (Czech Republic) and Tallinn (Estonia). As director of the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, she has participated in a great number of international projects. Among the most recent ones it is worthwhile pointing out the following: In August 2007, the choir was invited to give the closing concert at the Mostly Mozart Festival held at the Lincoln Center in New York. Professor Raga shared during this occasion the first part of the concert with Master Alberto Grau, founder of the Schola Cantorum de Caracas, presenting an a capella repertoire. For the second part of the concert, the choir interpreted Mozart's Requiem accompanied by the Festival’s orchestra under the direction of the renowned French conductor Louis Langrée
. Also in 2007, the choir, together with the London Symphony Orchestra, participated in London in the recording of John Adams
’ opera A Flowering Tree
produced by Peter Sellars
(Nonesuch Records). The year prior, Raga had already participated in the opera’s premiere in Vienna, Austria. Furthermore during 2007, together with Luimar Arismendi, she directed in France a group of children which constitute the Andean Choir (Voces Andinas a Coro) at the opportunity of their participation at the Polyfollia Festival. During the years 2008 and 2009, the groups directed by Ana María Raga were very active internationally. The Aequalis Aurea choir went on tour in Italy (2008) which included concerts at the Alpe Adria Cantat Festival in Lignano and an invitation by the City Council of Treviso where a special concert was held in presence of the city authorities. Also in 2008, the Humboldt School Choir travelled to Germany
to participate at the 28th International Youth Music Festival in Ansbach. They were very well received by the festival’s organizers and audiences who enjoyed nine concerts given by this choir. 2009 was a year with an intense international schedule for Raga. She initiated the year travelling with the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela to the Canary Islands (February 2009), offering a series of successful concerts of Latin-American sacred and popular music at the XXV Canarias Islands Music Festival and on the islands of the archipelago. Later in the year she was one of the two directors who had been invited to the World Youth Choir Summer Session 2009. This is an event organized every year by the International Federation for Choral Music
(IFCM), Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI) and the European Choral Association (ECA) Europa Cantat. This project gathers 80 young singers who are between 17 and 26 years old and have been selected among the best choral singers from over 40 countries. After intensive rehearsals, they undertake a tour of various European countries, participate in the prestigious festival Europa Cantat
and make a recording of the repertoire. In August 2009 Raga travelled with the Schola Cantorum to participate in the New York premiere of John Adams’ and Peter Sellars’ opera A Flowering Tree. In April 2010 she travelled to Los Angeles with the Schola Cantorum to participate in the staging of the symphonic and choral work Cantata Criolla by Venezuelan composer Antonio Estévez
at Walt Disney Concert Hall under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel
. During the same trip, the Schola Cantorum performed Osvaldo Golijov
’s La Pasión según San Marcos [The Passion according to St. Mark] under the artistic direction of María Guinand and an a capella concert at the Broad Stage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, where Raga directed several pieces. With the Aequalis Aurea choir, Raga participated at the XVI Festival of Latin-American Music in Caracas, Venezuela. At this occasion the choir presented the Venezuelan premiere of Allí había una niña, a work created for female voices by the Mexican composer Córdoba Valencia with a text from the poet Jaime Sabines. It was for the first time that this prestigious festival invited a choir to participate with a concert all on its own. During the same month, the Colegio Humboldt Children Choir was invited by the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela Foundation to participate in the premiere of the choral work La canción del regreso [The song of the return] created by the Venezuelan composer Alberto Grau. It is a work for a children choir, soloists and instruments commissioned for the 2010 edition of the cultural-educational project “Cantania” (Spain). The premiere was staged in Barcelona, Spain, by a large choir composed of many smaller primary school choirs and additional concerts were presented in Madrid, produced by the Liceo de Barcelona.
(Venezuela). The project has since been assumed by the FESNOJIV.
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, music composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and arranger as well as a teacher dedicated to the training of future choral conductors. She has won several prizes as a choral conductor, pianist and composer. Her versatility stands out in particular in the area of choral conducting as evidenced in the leadership role she has assumed for various choral groups of divers profiles and the invitations she receives to hold workshops on Latin-American Music, Children Choral Music and Conducting Children Choirs in particular.
Under the auspices of the Aequalis Foundation, set up and presided over by her, she directs the following choirs: The women choir Aequalis Aurea; The Choral Project at the Humboldt School in Caracas for school age children and adolescents; Co-Conductor of the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela
Schola Cantorum de Venezuela
Schola Cantorum de Venezuela is one of the most important choral societies belonging to the growing choral movement in Venezuela. SCV was founded in 1967 by Alberto Grau, a Venezuelan composer and conductor born in 1937 in Barcelona, Spain...
(before Schola Cantorum de Caracas) together with Professor María Guinand
Maria Guinand
Maria Guinand is an internationally renowned choral conductor.María Guinand received her bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the University of Bristol, England in 1976 and 1982, respectively...
. It is one of the most important choral institutions in Venezuela and of long-standing and extensive national and international exposure.
Training
Raga holds a Piano Performer degree from the “Juan Manuel Olivares” Music School, which she obtained in 1990 under the tutelage of Marisa Romera. Furthermore, she holds a bachelor's degree in Choral Conducting from the University Institute for Musical Studies (today Universidad de las Artes (UNEARTE) [University of the Arts]) obtained under the guidance of Alberto Grau. Raga has taken Composition and Choral Conducting Courses given by internationally recognized masters and professors such as Alberto Grau, Vic Nees, Robert Sund, Willy Gohl, Werner Pfaff, Erkki Pohjola, Helmuth RillingHelmuth Rilling
Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...
and Frieder Bernius.
Currently she is pursuing her master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Simón Bolívar University, in Caracas, Venezuela.
Academic and educational work
Professor Raga is a member of the Universidad de las Artes (UNEARTE) faculty where she teaches choral conducting. Furthermore she collaborates as a professor training directors of children and youth choirs with the “Social Action through Music Program” sponsored by the Corporación Andina de FomentoCorporación Andina de Fomento
CAF – Latin American development bank – has the mission of stimulating sustainable development and regional integration by financing projects in the public and private sectors, and providing technical cooperation and other specialized services...
(CAF) [Andean Development Corporation] in 8 countries. She has been a consultant to the Misión Música, managed by the Fundación del Estado para el Sistema Nacional de Orquestas Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela (FESNOJIV) National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela for the development of a “System of Symphonic Choirs”.
As a guest conductor and pedagogue Raga participates in numerous festivals and events in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, North
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. In Venezuela she has given courses for Children Choir Directors in Caracas and the interior. She has held workshops on Children Choral Repertoire at the IV América Cantat (Caracas, Venezuela), at the IV Europa Cantat Junior (Vic, Spain) and at the V América Cantat (La Habana, Cuba, 2007) festivals. In Hungary she had given courses on Latin-American Children Choir Music for students of Choir Direction at the Liszt Academy of Music in collaboration with the Hungarian Radio Children’s Choir (Budapest, 2006). She has been invited to present workshops for children choir directors in León, Guanajuato, Mexico (2006) and on Latin-American Repertoire for Female Voices at the Busan Choral Festival and Competition in Korea (2007). In 2008 she attended an invitation to work with the choirs of the North American Choral Company
North American Choral Company
The North American Choral Company is a choir based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.- Brief history :The North American Choral Company was founded in 1998 The executive director is Jayne Schuitema....
in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, USA and afterwards she held workshops for choir directors as well as a workshop on Latin-American Children Choir Music at the Sixth International Cedros UP Festival (FICUP). In 2009 she participated as a workshop leader in the fields of Children Choir Direction and Vocal Technique at the 13th edition of the Ágora Courses on Vocal Technique and Choir Direction in Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, organized by the Ágora Choir and sponsored by the Don Juan de Borbón Foundation. In August 2010 she organized a workshop on Latin-American Music for Mixed Choirs at the Alpe Adria Cantat Festival in Lignano, Italy.
In July 2009, the International Federation for Choral Music
International Federation for Choral Music
International Federation for Choral Music – IFCM, is an international association founded in 1982 to facilitate communication and exchange between choral musicians throughout the world...
invited her to join its organizing committee and to participate as a speaker at the International Music Education and Singing Conference. Her presentation dealt with the Social Impact of Choral Singing and offered valuable insights from projects in Venezuela and the Andean region.
Furthermore, she collaborates with international choral music research journals and publishers (see Publications).
Choirs
Raga has set up children choirs such as the Mater Salvatoris Children Choir and the Pequeños Cantores de Altagracias. The latter one is the second choir that was created within the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela Foundation’s “Pequeños Cantores” project, an educational initiative with a social component aimed at children and adolescents. The Aequalis and Voces Prismas choirs for female voices, were set up by Raga under the Aequalis Foundation umbrella. These two choirs have since merged to become the Aequalis Aurea Choir. Since 2003 Raga has been responsible for the Choral Project at the Humboldt School in Caracas. Together with Professor Luimar Arismendi, she started the Schola Cantorum Youth Choir. It is the leading choir of all the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela Foundation children choir projects. Under Raga’s and Arismendi’s leadership, the choir has attained a level of excellence permitting it to participate in important international activities in recent years. Raga was its director until 2010.Awards and Career Development as a Director
In 1987 Raga obtained the sole Música Española Prize at the National Silvia Einstein Piano Competition in Caracas (Venezuela). She was a member of the Cantoría Alberto Grau under Professor María Guinand’s directorship when the choir won the prestigious Guido D’Arezzo Prize in 1989. Raga obtained the 2nd prize for her Composition for Mixed Choirs at the 1st Procter & Gamble Venezuela Choir Festival. She participated with the Mater Salvatoris Children Choir at the 1999 Des Moines International Children’s Choral Festival in IowaIowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, USA. Choirs participate at this festival only upon invitation. At this occasion, Raga’s choir obtained the First Prize in both categories in which it had been invited to compete. The choir went on to produce its CD, RAKU, under her direction. In 2000, Aequalis was one of the choirs that represented Venezuela at the Songbride 2000 project, created by Erkki Pohjola . In August 2001, Aequalis undertook a successful tour of Europe participating at the Vivace International Choral Festival in Veszprém
Veszprém
Veszprém is one of the oldest urban areas in Hungary, and a city with county rights. It lies approximately north of the Lake Balaton. It is the administrative center of the county of the same name.-Location:...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, where the choir obtained the Prize of the Audience; at the Festival László Lajtha in Köszeg
Koszeg
----Kőszeg is a town in Vas county, Hungary. The town is famous for its historical character.- History :The origins of the only free royal town in the historical garrison county of Vas go back to the third quarter of the 13th century...
, Hungary, at The 2nd International Girls´ Choir Festival in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and at The 7th Cristopher Summer Festival in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. In Hungary she directed together with Zsuzsana Graf the Aequalis Choir and the prestigious Angelica Girls’ Choir from Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. Furthermore, during that same tour the choir presented successful concerts at important halls in Vienna (Austria), Prague (Czech Republic) and Tallinn (Estonia). As director of the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, she has participated in a great number of international projects. Among the most recent ones it is worthwhile pointing out the following: In August 2007, the choir was invited to give the closing concert at the Mostly Mozart Festival held at the Lincoln Center in New York. Professor Raga shared during this occasion the first part of the concert with Master Alberto Grau, founder of the Schola Cantorum de Caracas, presenting an a capella repertoire. For the second part of the concert, the choir interpreted Mozart's Requiem accompanied by the Festival’s orchestra under the direction of the renowned French conductor Louis Langrée
Louis Langrée
Louis Langrée is a French conductor. He is the son of organist and theorist Alain Langrée. One of his sisters is an amateur cellist....
. Also in 2007, the choir, together with the London Symphony Orchestra, participated in London in the recording of John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
’ opera A Flowering Tree
A Flowering Tree
A Flowering Tree is an opera in two acts composed by John Adams with libretto by Adams and Peter Sellars, and commissioned by the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, the San Francisco Symphony, the Barbican Centre in London, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, and the...
produced by Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays...
(Nonesuch Records). The year prior, Raga had already participated in the opera’s premiere in Vienna, Austria. Furthermore during 2007, together with Luimar Arismendi, she directed in France a group of children which constitute the Andean Choir (Voces Andinas a Coro) at the opportunity of their participation at the Polyfollia Festival. During the years 2008 and 2009, the groups directed by Ana María Raga were very active internationally. The Aequalis Aurea choir went on tour in Italy (2008) which included concerts at the Alpe Adria Cantat Festival in Lignano and an invitation by the City Council of Treviso where a special concert was held in presence of the city authorities. Also in 2008, the Humboldt School Choir travelled to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to participate at the 28th International Youth Music Festival in Ansbach. They were very well received by the festival’s organizers and audiences who enjoyed nine concerts given by this choir. 2009 was a year with an intense international schedule for Raga. She initiated the year travelling with the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela to the Canary Islands (February 2009), offering a series of successful concerts of Latin-American sacred and popular music at the XXV Canarias Islands Music Festival and on the islands of the archipelago. Later in the year she was one of the two directors who had been invited to the World Youth Choir Summer Session 2009. This is an event organized every year by the International Federation for Choral Music
International Federation for Choral Music
International Federation for Choral Music – IFCM, is an international association founded in 1982 to facilitate communication and exchange between choral musicians throughout the world...
(IFCM), Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI) and the European Choral Association (ECA) Europa Cantat. This project gathers 80 young singers who are between 17 and 26 years old and have been selected among the best choral singers from over 40 countries. After intensive rehearsals, they undertake a tour of various European countries, participate in the prestigious festival Europa Cantat
Europa Cantat
European Federation of young choirs is a European youth choir organisation founded in 1963. It is currently the biggest European youth organisation with members in 40 European countries and 50 countries worldwide...
and make a recording of the repertoire. In August 2009 Raga travelled with the Schola Cantorum to participate in the New York premiere of John Adams’ and Peter Sellars’ opera A Flowering Tree. In April 2010 she travelled to Los Angeles with the Schola Cantorum to participate in the staging of the symphonic and choral work Cantata Criolla by Venezuelan composer Antonio Estévez
Antonio Estévez
Antonio Estévez Aponte , was a Venezuelan musician, composer, and conductor, and founder of the Central University of Venezuela Chorus.Estévez was born to Mariano Estévez and Carmen Aponte...
at Walt Disney Concert Hall under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He is currently the principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Gothenburg, Sweden, and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, California...
. During the same trip, the Schola Cantorum performed Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
’s La Pasión según San Marcos [The Passion according to St. Mark] under the artistic direction of María Guinand and an a capella concert at the Broad Stage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, where Raga directed several pieces. With the Aequalis Aurea choir, Raga participated at the XVI Festival of Latin-American Music in Caracas, Venezuela. At this occasion the choir presented the Venezuelan premiere of Allí había una niña, a work created for female voices by the Mexican composer Córdoba Valencia with a text from the poet Jaime Sabines. It was for the first time that this prestigious festival invited a choir to participate with a concert all on its own. During the same month, the Colegio Humboldt Children Choir was invited by the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela Foundation to participate in the premiere of the choral work La canción del regreso [The song of the return] created by the Venezuelan composer Alberto Grau. It is a work for a children choir, soloists and instruments commissioned for the 2010 edition of the cultural-educational project “Cantania” (Spain). The premiere was staged in Barcelona, Spain, by a large choir composed of many smaller primary school choirs and additional concerts were presented in Madrid, produced by the Liceo de Barcelona.
The Aequalis Foundation
The Aequalis Foundation is a non-profit organization that was set up by Ana María Raga in 2001. It is dedicated to the presentation and investigation of music with a particular focus on choral music for equal voices. Since inception it has promoted the development of children and youth choirs such as Aequalis and Voces Prisma, both of which have become known nationally and internationally. Currently, the foundation also manages the Choral Project at the Humboldt School in Caracas. The Aequalis Foundation promotes choral singing as a tool for human development in general and in particular for school-age children. The Foundation has also worked in social reinsertion and integration centers such as the INOF (Spanish abbreviation for the National Women Orientation Institute) in Los TequesLos Teques
Los Teques is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Miranda. Its population is 140,617 .-History:The city was founded in 1777 and was named after the Aractoeques Carabs, an indigenous tribe that once inhabited the area...
(Venezuela). The project has since been assumed by the FESNOJIV.
Publications
Ana María Raga’s creative work as a composer and arranger is centered on choral music. Some of her work has been published by Hinshaw Music, Inc. and Éditions À Coeur Joie. She has collaborated with Sounds in Europe, a publication of the European Music Council (Regional Group of the International Music Council) and with La Circular, a publication of the Secretariat for Children Choirs of Catalonia. Furthermore she maintains her own blog, Sala de Ensayo, with articles and information about the choral world.Current Events and Projects for 2011
- Realized the concert of Vivaldi's Gloria by the Fundación Aequalis and Fundación Orquesta Sinfónica de Chacao, with several choirs and the Orquesta Sinfónica Infantil de Chacao, Caracas, Venezuela (June).
- Realized the VII Intercollegiate Children Choirs Festival held by the Humboldt School, Caracas, Venezuela (June) with an symphonic performance for several school choirs and orchestras.
- She conducted two concerts of the Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela: Serie "Lo Nuestro"
- She was juror at the 12th International Chamber Choir Competition held in Marktoberdorf, Germany (July).
- Hold workshops at the Europa Cantat Junior in Estonia (July).
- Hold workshops in Choir Direction at the Alpe Adria Cantat Festival in Lignano, Italy.
- Prepare a USA tour with the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela (A capella repertoire, Brahm’s Requiem, Arthur Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher).
- Prepare the recording of a CD with the Aequalis Aurea choir.
External Links
- International Chamber Choir Competition, Marktdorf, Germany
- Blog Sala de Ensayo, espacio de intercambio sobre temas del mundo coral
- Blog de Aequalis Aurea
- Blog del Proyecto Coral Colegio Humboldt
- Ana María Raga in Éditions A Coeur Joie
- Ana María Raga in Hinshaw Music
- Summer Session 2009
- Latin-American Music Festival, Concert Calendar
- Ana María Raga at the Schola Cantorum de Venezuela Foundation
- NYTimes: Passion, Through a Choir's Revelation
- Polyfollia: Pequeños Cantores de los Andes
- John Adams: A Flowering Tree
- Music Education and Singing Conference