ROCE and RESEO commence a ‘long-term collaboration’ after meeting in Tenerife

Chairwoman of nationwide network acknowledges consensus achieved concerning cultural rights

The Chairwoman of the Network of Organisers of Educational and Social Concerts (ROCE), Silvia Carretero said the three-day summit (ending Friday, April 25) marked the ‘onset of a long-term collaboration between ROCE and RESEO’ and thanked the Tenerife Island Council for its help in organising the event.

Carretero qualified for the 16th ROCE Conference as a milestone in managing cultural rights in Spain. We have achieved a consensus of opinions regarding these crucial issues, and she talked about the goals set in collaboration with the European Network for Opera, Music & Dance Education (RESEO).

The chairwoman stated, ‘Having RESEO members on the scientific committee of a ROCE conference for the first time has broadened our scope and laid the groundwork with a pan-European perspective. I believe this is the beginning of a long-term alliance between the two networks”. She also thanked Auditorio de Tenerife ‘for its unconditional support of the meeting between the national and European networks’.

Commenting on the 2020 meeting in Tenerife, some of which was attended remotely due to the pandemic, Carretero said that ‘those objectives proposed five years earlier had been formalised at this year’s meeting’. She mentioned the attendance of high-ranking executives of associated institutions, underscoring ‘their role in raising awareness of the networks and their efforts’.

RESEO Chairwoman Vania Cauzillo acknowledged that the conference had provided her organisation ‘with significant knowledge of activities in Spain. ROCE is a model that should be adopted throughout Europe. That would be wonderful, and we at RESEO intend to promote the idea’.

The Auditorio’s artistic director, José Luis Rivero, qualified the three-day event as a success and applauded the creation of bonds between institutions and individuals: ‘Listening to those who are actively involved in the work we do in education, social issues and mediation is the key to the success of our projects’. After reading aloud an emotive letter written by a father who had taken his child to a family-oriented show, Rivero concluded by saying, ‘This is why we do what we do’.

Dinko Fabris, Italian musicologist and teacher at the University of Basilicata, summed up the events that had taken place at the 16th ROCE Conference. He described Auditorio de Tenerife as ‘the cultural heart of the island and the archipelago’, qualifying it as ‘an architectural beauty within a setting of great natural beauty’.

Commenting on the potential of music in modern society, Fabris said, ‘These conferences have focused on music and cultural rights, something that is not always acknowledged in Europe’. He added, ‘In the last three days, we have contrasted experiences in Spain and Europe. The most significant value of the new alliance between ROCE and RESEO is being aware of each other and knowing what we’re doing from Finland to Latin America, thanks to the Latin American Opera network.

He also pointed out the efforts of a new generation of women in both organisations, whose dedication constitutes a reason to hope for a better tomorrow. In addition, he praised the networks’ creation, thanking them ‘for allowing those in attendance to return to their home countries with renewed enthusiasm and optimism.’