{"id":6783,"date":"2017-01-12T13:38:47","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T13:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/a-choir-for-rapa-nui\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T00:23:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T00:23:24","slug":"a-choir-for-rapa-nui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/a-choir-for-rapa-nui\/","title":{"rendered":"A Choir for Rapa Nui"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Last December, the newly-formed Choir of Isla de Pascua offered its first presentations in the parish church and in the Hotel Hanga Roa.\u00a0\u00a0They sang some Christmas carols, songs from \u201cThe Sound of Music\u201d and \u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d, two Polynesian songs which had been rescued by Margot Loyola in the 1960s (\u201cSau Sau and<\/em>Opa Opa\u201d <\/em>) and, as an exclusive, \u201cSilent Night\u201d sung in the Rapanui language. The program was melodic with songs well known to all and with something for everyone, creating a Christmas spirit when the choir appeared carrying lighted candles in their hands. Paulina Tuki and Jos\u00e9 Camiull\u00e1n presented as soloists and then together with the other members – Jes\u00fas Ahumada, Rosa Ika, Loretta Moreira, Eduardo Mu\u00f1oz, Sergio Tepano and Mar\u00eda Riquelme. Accompanying on the piano was the professional pianist Valeria Prado.<\/p>\n

Less than 4 months ago, the Chilean-German lyric soprano, Ilse Simpfendorfer-Hagemann, with a vast experience in formation of choirs and creator of the first permanent school of ancestral Mapuche music in Puc\u00f3n, arrived on the Island invited by the Municipality of Isla de Pascua and the magazine \u201cMoe Varua\u201d<\/em>to offer voice lessons with the goal of forming a choir in which adults and children can develop their skills academically.<\/p>\n

Throughout the history of the Island, many groups have been formed, due to the enormous innate artistic and musical abilities of the Islanders, to present the ancestral music and dance of their forefathers.\u00a0 Today, the young people are promoting their culture, fusing ancient songs, rhythms and instruments with modern influences.\u00a0 Both Catholic and Evangelical churches have their traditional choirs for Sunday services.\u00a0 Recently in 2013, the internationally-known concert pianist Mahani Teave began her School of Music so that the Island children would have the possibility of developing their talents in different arts and specialized musical instruments.<\/p>\n

And, what about vocal techniques, the needed skills to be able to sing or even speak correctly and safely?\u00a0 Several people have stopped Ilse Simpfendorfer in the street \u2026 \u201cAre you Ilse?<\/p>\n

\u2026 I want to learn to sing because I\u2019m getting hoarse.\u201d Ilse recognizes those symptoms: \u201cIt\u2019s necessary to maintain the instrument that is our voice in good shape to avoid hoarseness and the formation of nodules until very late in life.\u00a0\u00a0 Our voice box isn\u2019t just in the throat, but actually uses open sinus spaces located behind the nose and the cheeks.\u00a0 In order to sing, just as to talk, it\u2019s necessary to learn to relax the neck and shoulders, breathe well, let the voice resonate, articulate and vocalize.\u00a0 It\u2019s very useful to understand how the voice really works and what happens at a muscular level when we sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This cultural project will require both public and private support.\u00a0 Included in the agenda of the Municipal Department of Culture for this month will be the topic of vocal education for the further development of the\u00a0 Rapa Nui Choir for adults and another for children which will start with the school year in March.\u00a0 Rehearsals will be scheduled at the Centro Cultural Tongariki <\/em>or in another location to be determined.<\/p>\n

Those who are interested in participating should contact: Francisco Haoa, manager of the Municipal Department of Culture; Helga Thieme, editor of the magazine \u201cMoe Varua\u201d at Tahai s\/n, (helgathieme@entelchile.net); or Ilse Simpfendorfer at ilse.music.blogspot.com (ilse.simpfendorfer@gmail.com).<\/p>\n

The choir counts with the auspices of the Chilean-German Chamber and the Hamburg-Valparaiso Cultural Forum, which have shown interest in a future tour for the choir in Germany.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last December, the newly-formed Choir of Isla de Pascua offered its first presentations in the parish church and in the Hotel Hanga Roa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[120],"class_list":["post-6783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-rapa-nui-culture-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moevarua.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}