there, when you sing Swahili it’s very different. It’s very social. And they all get proud. CD: It seems so built to succeed in New York – how do you adjust to make the satellite program work in a place like Erie, PA. which can’t possibly have the same sort of diversity, can it? FN: Erie is a very divided city. There’s a railroad track in the middle and one type of people on one side and another on the other side. Erie’s concept was that they’d work very hard at combining those children – to bring them together. That’s why we did this. We have another program in New Jersey, which is part of the JCC – the Jewish Cultural Center. They’re putting together kids from all economic backgrounds. They have 90 children. So there are two very basic pilots that we’ve got going. Now I’m working on creating YPCs in other places in America and other countries. The first country that approached me was Japan. I started to do workshops in Japan with the children there, where I found a need in bringing children of diverse economic backgrounds togeth-
er. It’s not just about color. It’s about money, really. CD: The most recent development is in the Dominican Republic, right? FN: We put together a proposal that was accepted by the Dominican First Lady to create a choral system based around using choral music to bring diverse neighborhoods together. It’s our goal over the next five years to have the Young People’s Chorus of Santo Domingo – all of the people of Santo Domingo put together so that they can represent the Republic of Santo Domingo to the rest of the world. CD: Have there been surprising results from the YPC for you? FN: The biggest surprise is that it’s
actually working. When kids leave YPC, they’re so comfortable in other communities that they start to seek out diversity. That is to me the most beautiful thing. Many kids become music majors, they study music, they become singers and want to become conductors – the whole thing. That, to me, is going to happen in any choral environment.
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If you can take anyone and create an existence of music, then you changed society because that person begins a generation. You’ve got to start somewhere.
Núñez conducts the YPC on tour in Japan. (Courtesy MinOn Concert Association) 14 Choral Director, January 2012
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But I don’t want to just be a teacher. I want to make a difference inside. That is what I’m seeing is happening. I’ve seen so many of my students who are not music majors, but when they find themselves in a place that’s inhibiting their thought process about other people, they’re not happy to be there and they’ll walk away. We have a huge problem in this area in the choral world. I think a respect comes because, musically speaking, we’re able to succeed. But, quietly, I’m showing people who think, “Holy cow, you can do Brahms with black kids? And then do gospel with white kids? And they all sound great?” That’s how we’re winning. CD: You go out of your way to develop ability and skill in all of your kids. FN: What I was taught was how to find the right voice to sing something a certain way. And I’ve always questioned that because you can’t always come from a certain background and your genes can sing something the right way – you have to be taught to do it, and anyone can be taught. That’s why we become teachers. So if you’re just going to wait for the person to walk through your door who can sing that music perfectly from the start, I find that limiting. If you can take anyone and create an existence of music, then you have changed society because that person begins a generation. You’ve got to start somewhere. CD: What’s been your mission in terms of seeking out new collaborators and writers? FN: Early on, the only people coming to our performances were my family members. I thought I needed to get people there who weren’t my family members, so I started studying programs of orchestras outside of my genre. They were doing music like Bach and Beethoven and Mozart – serious pieces! I thought, “Let me go to those composers.” I went to people like Mozart and Bach and Stravinsky and Britten, and the number of pieces for children’s choir was very small. They wrote a lot for boys’ choir. A lot for women’s choir, but very little