A week ago, my soul returned to my body. I indulged myself in the choral genre when I attended the third anniversary concert of the "Ángel Sauce" Youth Choir. As many of you know, I belong to the National Choir of my country, and modesty aside, it is one of the highest-level choral groups in Venezuela, if not the most outstanding. There are others based in the capital, but the impact of our musical institution, even in terms of singers and orchestras, has been internationally renowned.
There is so much talent in our country that, after 50 years since the orchestra's founding and the choir's upcoming 20th anniversary, new groups have had to be created to meet the demand and prevent the continued loss of talent through migration. The young choir you hear in this video is a great example of that; they've only been officially a professional group for three years, although they've been building their foundations for six years. And believe it or not, I had never attended one of their concerts before, even though we've shared the stage when we've come together for a concert with the symphony orchestra.
The good thing about never having heard them before is that they've been improving all this time, and I longed to hear such an impressive choral sound, even similar to what we've achieved. Best of all, the repertoire was 100% Venezuelan, featuring madrigals, tonadas, merengues, and joropo. In fact, in this video, you can appreciate the choral arrangement by the Venezuelan Maestro Modesta Bor, whose 100th birthday is being commemorated this year, and we're preparing something wonderful to honor her in June.
Most of the audience seemed to be the 90 members of the choir where I sing, and that's because in the end, we're all the same people, our friends, partners, and even family. It was wonderful to hear the vocal level and the richness they've achieved, and I hope that several of them will join us soon in the national choir. It moves me to know that despite so many problems, people never stop striving to improve themselves, and it's wonderful that they also have even a small opportunity to grow and develop as artists... I think the world needs to see many more Venezuelans succeeding artistically in every corner of the globe 🙏
