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"Harmonia Gentium" is a "no-profit" musical association since 1986. It is based in Lecco, capital city of the homonymous province, located on the coast of the eastern branch of the lake of Como, encircled by the pre-alpine mountains. Its members are lovers and experts of "true" music, who extend their activity to the provinces of the northern part of Lombardy: Como, Bergamo, Milano and Sondrio.

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Aims


To diffuse the knowledge of the sacred and religious musical heritage through concerts during the "International Reviews - Masterpieces of Holy Music" and "Concerts for organ".
To help in creating and growing a qualified musical culture for all the population, with no discriminations and free of charge.
To create opportunities for useful exchanges of experiences and co-operation within European and Worldwide, realizing the Harmonia Gentium´s pledge, in promoting through the musical art, the friendship between peoples.
To pay special attention to the young people, with the European Festival G. Zelioli for "Youth Cantores". The youth would make possible a best future by being involved, without barriers, in an atmosphere of peace and fraternity, mutually linked in the common love for music.

"School is made in music" is the Project promoted by our Association that arises from the awareness of the need to relaunch choral music within the first cycle of compulsory education, in implementation of the ministerial music programs.

Harmonia Gentium has always been attentive and sensitive to the theme of the diffusion of music among young people and the very young, and the numerous editions of the Zelioli International Festival for Youth Choirs represent the most significant example of this.

In the wake of this tradition, in 2024 we decided to take a further step to try to make the new generations aware of how useful Music can be to complete their relational and cultural experiences.

The project (financially supported by the Lecchese Foundation, the Lombardy Region, the Municipality of Lecco, Caritas Ambrosiana and various private entities) involves collaboration with one of the most important female choirs in the world: the Girl's Choir Jitro, from Hradec Kralové (Czech Republic), a significant youth group made up of around 40 girls and some boys aged between 12 and 18, selected from over 400 members in six preparatory formations.

The choir will be guests in our city from 11 to 13 October to meet their peers who are part of the school choirs in the area, so as to offer them a stimulating experiment of interaction, as well as an opportunity to express themselves through musical performances together in a completely unique context of cultural exchange.

These girls will therefore be spokespersons of human experiences and musical skills from beyond the borders, offering our students opportunities for discussion in which they can work on a repertoire previously studied with the Teachers, in an open and shared dialogue.

Beyond the event, with this project our Association wants to stimulate the start of a broader plan that sees the future involvement of other Italian or international choirs, so that this experience does not remain an end in itself but can become the springboard for a systemic and systematic activity, inserted in a cultural plan that looks to the future. The proposal of a new approach and opening of school contexts to musical events in the area would therefore offer students the opportunity to work with professionals, to exchange experiences and to learn new ideas. The musical skills that would be made available would create moments of lively and high cultural depth.

The program included the arrival in Lecco of the Jitro choir on Friday 11 October and it was busy in the evening in a concert in Mandello del Lario in which the Choir of the A.Volta Comprehensive Institute conducted by Maestro Alessandro Milesi also took part.

On the morning of Saturday 12th, the Choir met in Sala Don Ticozzi in Lecco with all the school choirs that have joined the project to prepare some pieces that will be presented that same evening during a concert organized in the Basilica of San Nicolò.

It was a busy day for the participants and their directors and teachers, a day in which they were able to compare themselves with the experience of Maestro Jiri Skopal (historical director of Jitro) and his young choristers with the hope that all this can sensitize even more "our" young people to the approach to the world of music, a world that to be properly attended requires passion and constant commitment.

There were five choral groups from the area that participated in the event representing Don Ticozzi, Liceo Grassi, ICS Calolziocorte, ICS Volta, ICS Cremeno

Finally, on Sunday 13 October the Jitro choir accompanied the 10am Holy Mass in the Basilica.

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