Laura Poy Solano
The newspaper La Jornada
Monday, August 12, 2024, p. 13
With the motto Better a violin than a rifleThe non-profit organization Musicians Without Borders announced that at the end of November it will bring two containers of musical instruments to Mexico that will be delivered free of charge to low-income children and adolescents.
It is a thank you for the welcome in Mexico of so many refugees during the Spanish Civil War, but we also want it to be a collaboration that lasts for many years.
said Jesus Maria Pinttu Alegria Urtiaga, president and founder of the collective.
With the support of Juanjo Bordés, Spanish tenor and founder of the group Rumbo Tijuana, they launched a support campaign with the video The Rocalés (broadcast on the YouTube platform), in which Rafael Jorge Negrete, singer and grandson of Jorge Negrete, and the Orfeón Pamplonés choral group, one of the most prestigious in Europe, also participate.
In an interview, Pinttu and Bordés pointed out that although the initial date for its delivery was last June, in commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the arrival of the ship Sinaia to Mexico, in which the first 1,600 refugees traveled, It has been a long process, in which there has been a great response for the donation of instruments
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They stressed that there is interest from the authorities of the Basque Country to support this initiative because Mexico is of vital importance to us, since we have listened to Mexican music since we were children, and many of us have seen films from the golden age of Mexican cinema.
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For 29 years, they said, This effort is being promoted to bring music to many places, including Cuba and Guatemala, and as Chavela Vargas said, we must fill the world with violins and guitars, and that is what we are doing.
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Painted Joy made A call to all the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of these refugees who arrived in Mexico to join in this effort in solidarity, in reciprocity for the support their families received to make this dream come true, but not for a day or a month, but rather something permanent like a bond of solidarity.
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Tour of Mexico
Juanjo Bordés, who founded the group Rumbo Tijuana a year and a half ago, with which he promotes northern music in the Basque Country, highlighted that the proposal is to hold a concert in the port of Veracruz, after the arrival of the musical instruments, and to hold some concerts in Mexico City, and perhaps in some other cities in the country.
In Mexico, they recalled, they have the support and collaboration of Ricardo Gutiérrez García, director of the García Blanco Institute of Music and Tradition and its typical orchestra, for the realization of this project.
They said that the children of musicians and composers José Alfredo Jiménez and Agustín Lara have also joined this effort, as well as Jorge Negrete, their grandson, who will participate in the annual concerts of the Musicians Without Borders group in the Basque Country next October to continue their charitable work.
It’s not just about carrying containers with musical instruments, it’s about building a project that will last over time, like an indestructible bond of hope. And now that there is so much violence, we hope that with music we can achieve the much desired solidarity.
said Pinttu Alegría Urtiaga.
They recalled that on their official page www.musicossinfronteras.org You can find information about the project in Mexico, as well as about the actions carried out in various places around the world to provide children and teenagers with free musical instruments. Any donation for this effort can be made to the account of Musicians without Borders: ES93 21006502460200077720.
