Oscar Herrera is perhaps one of the most important figures in the education, production, dissemination and preservation of choral music in Mexico during the last 30 years.
One of his main tasks has been to found and direct choirs in different faculties of the UNAM (Engineering, Chemistry, Medicine, Architecture and the National School of Languages, Linguistics and Translation), where students "have found in the choir that passion that fills their lives and has allowed them to overcome many adverse situations".
But beyond his transcendent social work, as choir coordinator of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, he has been responsible for the adequate preparation of amateur groups whose high technical quality allows them to accompany professional musicians and prestigious soloists, as evidenced by their recent performance in Carmina Burana by Carl Orff at the Nezahualcóyotl Concert Hall.
In this exclusive interview Oscar Herrera talks about his beginnings in the world of singing, his facet as an organist and the keys to make different voices coincide in the same expressive objective and thus build a homogeneous and sensitive choral sound.
By HRJ
How did the idea of creating choirs in different faculties of UNAM come about? What is their function within the university's cultural offerings?
In my youth I joined the CCH Sur Choir; I consolidated my love for music not only by listening, but also by actively participating in the interpretation of music.
When I entered the School of Engineering, there was no choir in which I could realize my musical interests; in the first semesters of my career I continued singing in the CCH Choir. In 1990 I had the idea of creating a choir in the Faculty and thus the Engineering Choir was born.
As time went by, the Engineering Choir consolidated itself as a reference in choral music at UNAM, participating in concerts with different orchestras.
Singing in a choir allows you to live the music intensely, to discover many details of the works when preparing them for performance; also, being part of a choir allows you to integrate into a team to achieve great musical goals; for example, to perform in concert singing music a cappella or with a symphony orchestra.
The support of the Academia de Música del Palacio de Minería allowed us to hold, before the pandemic, four international choral meetings at the School of Engineering, promoting choral music and fostering the formation of new choirs in our University.
Of course, cultural activities allow students to have a comprehensive training that will bear fruit in professionals with human sensitivity and aware of the importance of teamwork.
Could you please tell us about this process of involving students in the creation of music, specifically choral music?
To join the Architecture, ENALLT, Engineering, Medicine and Chemistry choirs, applicants must audition. Those who are selected are integrated into our shared work scheme: we have 5 venues with different scheduling options throughout the week; thus, the students can attend rehearsals without neglecting their classes.
During rehearsals, the choir director (yours truly) introduces the students to the basics of music: score reading, vocal technique and tools for staging the pieces.
The choirs are made up of students, professors and the university community, not only from the faculties where each choir is located, but from the entire university.
There is no cost to be part of these choirs; choir students are part of a family that is united by the love of music.
What are the challenges of bringing together in the same work a first-class professional orchestra, internationally renowned soloists and these university choirs?
For university choirs, singing with a professional orchestra such as the Minería Symphony Orchestra implies an arduous discipline of rehearsals; before each concert, each student is evaluated (intonation, intervals, mastery of the work); those who pass the evaluation are summoned to participate in the concert.
I have always said that an amateur choir, with the right preparation, can offer a good interpretative performance.
The boys in the choirs also know the responsibility of singing with the Sinfónica de Minería and the strict discipline of a professional orchestra, the seriousness and punctuality. Imagine: before the first rehearsal of Carmina Burana in the Nezahualcóyotl Concert Hall, the 120 members of the choir arrived two hours early for their Covid test, which was another requirement to be able to participate.
And when the boys finally perform at the concert with the orchestra, I can tell you that they experience a magic that changes the way they look at life; singing Carmina Burana or participating in a Christmas concert or a "symphonic Beatles" is an experience that you will keep in your heart for a lifetime.
Beyond the activities involving the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, how are the agendas of these groups articulated?
Our university choirs have the mission of disseminating music inside and outside the University. In addition to concerts with the Minería Symphony, throughout the year we present didactic concerts with ensembles of Minería musicians (or on occasions, singing a capella) in the different schools and faculties of the University.
We have offered altruistic concerts in churches, homes for the elderly, charities and social rehabilitation centers, because we want music to reach sectors of the population that for various reasons (distance, time or cost of a ticket) cannot go to a concert hall.
The repertoires are diverse; some concerts are thematic (e.g. the concert for the Day of the Dead) and sometimes in response to the concerns of the students: recently, dismayed by the war in Ukraine, we performed the Prayer for Ukraine by Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912).
Could you share a few brief lines about the origin and specific particularities of each one in order to individualize them?
Starting with the Engineering Choir, which arose as a musical need of mine, the other choirs have arisen thanks to the joint efforts of the Engineering Choir and the Music Academy of the Palacio de Minería.
In compact form (choir headquarters, year of creation, name of the choir, meaning of the choir name)
School of Engineering 1990 Ars iovialis Youth Art
Faculty of Chemistry 2015 Alchemists
Faculty of Medicine 2018 Aliis Vivere Living for others
National School of Language, Linguistics and Translation (ENALLT) 2019 Chords
Faculty of Architecture 2022 Coro en Clave de FA Faculty ofArchitecture
Your artistic career has been characterized by your dedication to music from multiple angles, as a performer, conductor, manager and lecturer. However, it would seem that most of your efforts have been directed towards choral groups, what is it that excites you about the world of choirs?
It is impossible to describe in a few lines all that choral music generates in me; I will only tell you that when you enter that universe you are trapped; since my youth I fell in love with choral music; yes, I am passionate about choirs and they are a way of life for me.
Beyond the musical aspect, I have been very motivated to know that through choirs I can bring a benefit to young people; I can tell you that choral activity is a balm for the work and school worries that people face nowadays.
Throughout my 32 years leading the choirs, I have found that many students have found in the choir that passion that fills their lives and has allowed them to overcome many adverse situations.
Where do you find the key for a choir to work and achieve its own solvent sound? How to make different voices coincide in the same expressive objective?
As any other work team, in a choir the members must be clear about the objective we are pursuing; this way we will all be in agreement: If in the human aspect human aspect If we work well in the human aspect, we will be able to work well in the musical aspect. musical aspect.
First, we must get people who sing differently from each other to sing using the same principles to achieve a homogeneous sound.
Each of the sections of the choir must emit its sound with the same placement, articulation and resonance to achieve homogeneity.
The solvency of the choir is a reflection of the mastery of the works; this mastery is achieved with quality rehearsals: "rehearsing is not repeating without rhyme or reason, but reviewing the works critically to correct mistakes and improve the interpretation", said maestro Ramón Noble.
Could you tell us briefly about your facet as an organist?
In my case, working as organist/cantor at the Chapel of Divine Providence has allowed me to delve into sacred choral music, from Gregorian chant to contemporary works.
Nowadays, church music has taken on a popular facet (it is no longer like in the days when Mozart was Kapellmeister or Bruckner and Fauré were organists), but it is just as exciting to take on the challenge (as a cantor or with a choir) of presenting different works each week according to the dates of the liturgical year.
And, of course, when conditions permit, it is an eye-opening experience to take my choirs to a church to perform some Mozart mass, Renaissance polyphony or Christmas concerts.
What are your artistic plans for the future?
First: (for all of the above) to consolidate a university choral movement for the benefit of students, professors, faculties and schools of UNAM.
Second: To prepare and offer new cycles of didactic concerts with the Mining Chamber Orchestra.
