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would make a great concert opener strongly aff ect the ensemble’s in- may be studying in school.
or closer. Dr. Elisa Dekaney, one of terest in the languages a conductor Spanish is the second most
the arrangers of Cangoma, was born chooses to introduce. When choos- commonly spoken language in the
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. When ing repertoire based on text, consid- United States and is a commonly
8
searching for folk music to perform, er a foreign language that is relatable taught subject in schools. A Span-

it is best to find works arranged by to your students. Look not only at ish piece, such as Nido de Amor [Nest
people of that culture (Figure 11). what languages they may speak at of Love] by Mexican composer
The makeup of your choir can home, but also what languages they Lilia Vázquez Kuntze, would work
well with a more advanced elemen-
tary ensemble. There is no melodic
repetition, but each phrase is deli-
cately built to practice extending
the vocal range and contains almost
exclusively quarter and eighth-note
rhythms. The accompaniment does
most of the rhythmic driving and
both piano and voices get to explore
bird calls with trills and animal

sound effects. With a work such as
this, one could ask Spanish speakers
in the ensemble to help with teach-
ing the pronunciation and giving a

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2021 Volume 61 Number 11 65