“This is one of the most heartfelt concerts I have given in all my life. It’s a small choir composed of blind people. You can’t imagine their joy when singing,” says conductor Suzana Turku
TIRANA, May 11 – Amateur and professional blind singers have come together to form the unique “Joy of singing” choir in Albania under an initiative by renowned conductor Suzana Turku.
“This is one of the most heartfelt concerts I have given in all my life. It’s a small choir composed of blind people. You can’t imagine their joy when singing. We have been rehearsing for months to give this modest concert,” says Turku, a professor at the University of Arts, a conductor and former deputy Culture Minister.
Suzana Turku is also the founder of the Pax Dei choir in the early 1990s just after the collapse of the communist regime. She also leads the National Choral Center of Iso-polyphony which has been proclaimed by UNESCO a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
“Choral singing in Albania, apart from being part of the national folklore and an intangible folk heritage value, is also considered of great value within the artistic culture which was fostered by Albanians throughout their national history,” says the Choral Centre.
The art of choral singing – other than the ancient Albanian folk tradition – despite its comparatively short life-span of hardly more than a century, has played a very important part in the history of musical culture in Albania. Choral music is well-known and liked all over the country, maintaining a predominant role over other musical genres.
Apart from being a national heritage and wealth, choral singing is also the best way to express solidarity and mutual affection, and it possesses not only cultural values but also an educational role for the new generations.
