The local Salvation Army has a choir. It wasn't planned by the captains, but its birth follows the spirit of William Booth´s original group, whose aim was that of saving souls, and who saw music as a means to that end. Therefore, music should be direct, simple, practical.

Our group, The Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club Latino Children Choir, was born out of the workshops for youth that the Bank Street Blues project conducted during the past year. The Salvation Army after-school program was in attendance at our local presentation, and a few days later the head teacher, Yanira Rosario, called me to see whether we could teach the children to sing.

While I looked for funding to pay one of our singers/teachers who volunteered for the job, Margaret Tyler, I wondered whether I could justify taking up the children´s time long-term. Why could it be so important as to occupy a chunk of their afternoon weekly?

Apart that music and language developed side-by-side and are at the basis of our cultures, we know that music activates all parts of the brain, therefore offering a good activity to improve their cognitive abilities.

But there were other considerations that inspired me to gather a collection of traditional carols in Spanish, convinced that it was important to try.

We would be working in a group, as a team, even though there are different ages – third to seventh graders. Early we discussed that, although we were having a good time, it was not an entertainment activity. We worked at finding the values that made us happy singing together.

We felt grounded, because something of our beliefs and experience was being expressed in the words. The awareness of the linguistic beauty of the songs was felt as a kind of knowledge.

The children started calming down as they mastered the music new to them. The first carol was fun. Then we learned a fragment of a long one. Then, we figured out how to tell an imaginary audience what we were doing.

Then we learned “Silent Night” in two languages, included tambourines in our rehearsals, thought about the meaning of Christmas aided by the lyrics of Charles Ives song –

Little star of Bethlehem,

Do we see thee now?

Do we hear thee in our hearts?

Even the little ones, who are just learning English, repeated these lines and thought about the deep mystery. There was a pleasant harmony entering our singing meetings that made me remember what Pythagoras said: stories, harmony and rhythm cultivate concord.

We didn't need to explain anything when the Latino Choir performed at New London High for the World Languages parents’ night. Everything seemed natural: that the children sang in Spanish lyrics from their ancestors’ tradition; that their self-assured presence in the big cafeteria full of grown-ups emphasized that art creates a new consciousness, new possibilities for relating to others, and resolves social inequalities.

The Latino Choir’s first public performance was a success. I, personally, went away thinking that we should not forget any of our ancestors’ knowledge because even the smallest part of it could help us find an answer we need, sustain us while creating new horizons.

One of the younger singers approached me as we were boarding the bus back:

You forgot to tell us to sing one song.

It was true. I am glad that now she is the one who remembers.

We thank the New London Cultural Coalition for providing funds for the Latino Choir singing lessons.

Resurreccion Espinosa-Frink is the Bank Street Blues Bilingual project coordinator, and a Master Teaching Artist with the CT Commission on the Arts. Her new book of poetry in Spanish, “Danza española n. 5: Poesía para la Música y el Tiempo,” was published in November by Editorial Valparaíso in Spain.