Conference Program

This contribution aims to present the experience of the Tridentum choir-laboratory, founded in Trento (Italy) in 2017 and devoted to the historical repertoire of Alpine polyphonic singing (Labanca et al. 2020). Over the past year, the Tridentum choir-laboratory has been producing a CD intended as an opportunity to refine interpretative choices through a process that questions vocality, phrasing, and the relationship with the traditional text. This cultural project simultaneously encourages critical observation from different disciplinary perspectives. Alongside the collective work of studying and recording the songs, professionals invited to share in the experience are producing contributions that will be collected in a forthcoming volume. In this way, a compact disc takes on the broader and more significant role of a Connection Device. Choral practice within the Tridentum choir-laboratory becomes a form of active citizenship education. The choir functions as a pedagogical and social space in which collective musical production becomes a site for negotiating meanings, shared responsibilities, and reciprocal listening. From this perspective, choral practice involves not only the singers—who are called upon to exercise cooperation, coordination, and participation—but also the audience, which through listening participates in a process of cultural and symbolic construction. Choral practice thus becomes an educational device capable of activating forms of cultural citizenship both in the performative dimension and in that of reception, showing how music can operate as a space for civic education and critical reflection (Schütz 2015).