Musical wealth of the Dominican Republic of the last 87 years is compiled

Musical wealth of the Dominican Republic of the last 87 years is compiled
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, February 1, 2013

Over thirty four thousand Dominican, Caribbean and Latin American musical productions of the last 87 years (from 1926 to present), have been recovered and collected by the Museo de la Música Dominicana (MUMDO – Museum of Dominican Music), as part of the music restoration project in which this Office of the Ministry of Culture (MINC) currently participates.

The official information organization, the Observatory, establishes that, in order to enable interested parties to have access to this important collection which is part of the national music record heritage, all this material must be available for consultation free of charge.

The details are contained in the latest edition of the journal Cultural Observatory, MINC’s official information dissemination organization. It should be noted that the agency has recovered 67,000 press articles on Dominican, academic and folkmusic; a file with more than four thousand Dominicanconcert programs, from 1947 up-to present; and 637 postersof concerts, shows and movies.

In addition, it has recovered digital copies of more than two thousand concert videos, documentaries, testimonials and video clips; a library containing more than 300 digital books, 138 manual methods and real books for music students and professionals, all in PDF format; and it has also compiled a library of imageswith over 60,000 photographs.

The official information organization, the Observatory, establishes that, in order to enable interested parties to have access to this important collection which is part of the national music record heritage, all this material must be available for consultation free of charge.

In the education field, the museum, in coordination with the nation’s General Archive, is developingthe project of digitalization and restoration of Dominican music and, in collaboration with the Instituto Tecnológico de Las Américas (ITLA – Technological Institute of the Americas), it has undertaken the creation of the Virtual Museum of Dominican Music, a portal where the public will have access to the MUMDO collection through the Internet.

In addition, it has also produced a series of four CDs containing hits by the great Dominicanorchestras and soloists of the 50s, and one on the Creole, popular music that is in danger of becoming extinct.

Tommy García, Director of MUMDO, has also reported that they are working on the creation of an orchestra that will be conducted by Maestro Manuel Tejada, which will playthe music that the museumhas in order to produce musical performances that will be recorded and sold, both in CD and DVD formats.

Other important initiatives in this field have been outlined, among which are those being implemented by MINC’sVice Ministry of Creativity and Popular Participation and which were presented during the event where Minister José Antonio Rodríguez introduced the Ministry’s plan of action for 2013.

It is stated in the program that the state agency will create and compile Dominican musical repertoires, and that it will incorporate the winning compositions at the National Music Awards to the cultural offerings of the agency’s orchestras and artistic troupes.

Mrs. Mirtha Olivares,Coordinator of the Vice Ministry of Creativity and Popular Participation, made that statement during her presentation at the launching of the agency’s 2013 Work Plan, which was held in the Biblioteca Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña.

The official informed that a Music Publishing House, a Record Label Unit and a Unit of Musical Instruments have been established to provide support to the National Music System.

By the same token, she informed that the MINC possessesthe necessary specialized tools that will allow it to start a luthiery shopin the near future. This will allow theagency’s orchestras and music schools to repair their instruments, to recover many instruments that currently cannot be used, and to service those that are in use.

On a different note, Olivares said that they are working on a plan to ensure that the schools that teach art and which report to the agency, such as the National Conservatory of Music, may offer official degree programs to their students, something she considers to be “the art schools’ dream for many years.”

She added that in 2013 more musical instruments will be provided to music academies and schools, and to all art schools, both in Santo Domingo and in the provinces; and that they may receive a higher monthly subsidy, which will expand their ability to operate with dignity and to accommodate more students.

“We are in the process of opening new spaces for student auditions and to improve the classrooms of the Conservatory and of the Elila Mena Elementary School of Music. We are negotiating additional resources to recover the Manuel Rueda Hall, which has been closed for four years, so that shows and cultural events open to the public may be held there,”she indicated.