Joan Therens
Helsinki, Finland, August 1990
Halifax, Canada 1989
Pretoria, South Africa 1997
Edmonton, Canada 2000
Regina, Canada 2003
Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain 2004
Helsinki, Finland, August 1990
Every seat in Finlandia Hall was filled for the Grand Choir Gala. The concert was only one of many that happened during the XIX World Conference of the International Society for Music Education, and anticipation of the extraordinary evening to come ran high. Ten youth and children's choirs from around the world had traveled thousands of miles to perform at what was to become my first, most memorable ISME experience. Five choirs were to take their turn on stage, while five more choirs filled the first balcony. The Tartu Girls' Choir Kurekell from Estonia, the Toronto Children's Choir, the Radio Denmark Girls' Choir, the Sacho High School Choir from Kenya and the Cantamus Girls' Choir from the UK each performed their separate programs after which all of the choirs returned to the stage to join in singing "Finlandia Hymn" by the beloved Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius. Following intermission, the audience enjoyed programs by the Hungarian Béla Bartòk Girls' Choir, The Little Singers of Tokyo, the Georgian Folk and Dance Company from the USSR, the Seattle Girls' Choir and the Children's Choir of Bulgarian Radio and TV. Then all ten choirs reassembled on stage, and the introduction to "Hymn to Freedom" by Canadian jazz composer, Oscar Peterson, began. The entire audience spontaneously stood to hear these hundreds of glorious voices sing, and as they sang, they joined hands, lifting them high in the air, the audience joining in the sea of upraised arms in a collective display of understanding and peace that only music can evoke. As tears streamed uncontrollably down my face, I thought back to the year before.
Halifax, Canada 1989
Eleven years earlier, five Canadian music organizations, the Canadian Music Educators Association (CMEA), the Association of French Music Educators of Quebec (FAMEQ), the Canadian University Music Society (CUMS), the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations (CFMTA) and Canadian Amateur Musicians (CAMMAC), combined forces to sponsor the 1978 ISME World Conference in London. In spite of many efforts by many Canadian ISME members, agreement as to which organization should apply to become the ISME Affiliated National Organization in Canada could not be reached. I had just been elected as CMEA President and invited representatives from all five of these groups to a meeting during the Halifax CMEA Conference. The group concluded that CMEA should be the national organization to represent Canada. I was given the mandate and a travel grant from CMEA to present its application to the ISME Board in Helsinki. The ISME Board welcomed CMEA's application, and for the first time, Canada was officially a member country of ISME. Before the end of the Helsinki Conference, I was asked to let my name stand for election to the ISME Board. One year later I was in Seoul, Korea at my second meeting of the ISME Board and was appointed the ISME Secretary General with duties to begin in 1992. Thus began my volunteer work with the Society and with five ISME Presidents from five different continents, traveling each year to countries that, until 1990, had only been a spot on a map.
Pretoria, South Africa 1997
When the Board of Directors of the International Society for Music Education met in Pretoria, South Africa in 1997, the year prior to the 1998 ISME World Conference, we were offered the opportunity to visit Alexandra Township, one of many townships surrounding the city of Johannesburg. I jumped at the chance, but nearly cancelled when we were told that we'd have to leave all jewellery, money, cameras and passports behind! Only six of us accepted the offer and I was the only woman. No words will ever describe arriving in Alexandra, making our way through narrow streets lined with all manner of cardboard, tin, wooden, and clay structures, all teeming with hundreds of people, all trying to see through the darkened windows of our van. We had been invited to attend a special performance of the Victory Songbook Theatre Company, a group of eighteen young people including victims as well as perpetrators of violence. Through creative theatre, music and dance, the group takes theatre to the people in makeshift venues, halls, prisons and even in the open. It addresses the basics of violence like family, school, gang, gender and political violence and racism using their works as a stimulant for discussion and social change.
The performance was electrically charged depicting high energy, fear, shame, hope, humour and deep, extremely deep, emotion. No music class, no conference workshop, no high-powered speaker, nothing I have ever seen or heard until that night has done more to influence my understanding of just how powerful the arts can be! Following the performance we squeezed each and every one of those young people into the van and went to their director's home for dinner. Home was one room, meagre furnishings, no water, no heat, but there was electricity. The students prepared dinner; we sang; we danced; we shared stories; we became friends. Six foreigners from five continents journeyed back to Pretoria in tearful silence. As the miles began to separate us from Alexandra, we began to talk about how fortunate we were to have witnessed the powerful force of music and the creative arts for all peoples everywhere. This is but one of many, many other experiences that has had a profound impact on me. And all because I chose to be involved with ISME.
Edmonton, Canada 2000
The XXIV ISME World Conference returned to Canada for a second time. Members of the Conference Organizing Committee traveled to South Africa in 1998 to present their plans to the ISME Board and to publicize the conference. Many, many people from all corners of the world held such good memories of the 1978 conference that they were delighted to accept CMEA's proposal to host the conference in Edmonton. And they were not disappointed! It was a week to be remembered for foreign delegates and afforded a wonderful opportunity for Canadians to attend and be introduced to ISME. In addition,
ISME Commissions Seminars were hosted in Kingston, Regina, Sydney, Toronto, and Vancouver prior to the conference.
Regina, Canada 2003
My personal journey in music education began like many others whose roots are in a small town in Southern Saskatchewan. Armed with one year of teacher training, I began teaching in a three-room school. Because I could play the piano and sing a little, I became the music teacher. In 1969 I attended my first CMEA Conference in Regina, another career altering experience. In 1970 I became a member of SMEA and CMEA. Twenty years later CMEA gave me the biggest professional gift of my life – the opportunity to attend the ISME Conference in Finland!
It's virtually impossible to describe ISME, a society that turned 50 years old this past July and we should all be proud of the fact that Arnold Walter, a Canadian, was the first ISME President! Most music teachers, whether they are studio teachers, classroom teachers, choral directors, directors of instrumental ensembles, university scholars, community musicians or students, choose to become a member of a local or provincial music group. The support and camaraderie that these groups provide is unquestionably valuable, not only for one's professional development, but for one's personal development. But there's a much bigger music community available to all through ISME. Over the past fifty years countless numbers of Canadians have become members and have traveled all over the globe to take in an ISME conference, seminar or other event. Many have played important roles in ISME's development and it's hard to find anyone who has not been enriched by the incredible array of musical and cultural experiences he or she has had.
Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain 2004
Nothing - not money, not time - no excuse should stop you from planning now to get to the next ISME Conference in Tenerife! I went there in June 2002 as an advisor to the organizing committee and, once again, fell in love with yet another country, another culture. I can assure you that once you've opened your heart and mind to the wider world of music and music education, your teaching and your life will be unbelievably enriched!
Joan Therens is a retired music/arts educator who recently chaired the Saskatchewan Music Conference and CMEA Symposium in Regina. She has been honoured with Honourary Life Memberships in SMEA, CMEA and ISME.