Elikya Choir: Enhanced identities by compensation

Abstract

Intercultural choirs for inclusion purposes are projects of multi-part music, with a relevant political impact. A fascinating case study is the Elikya choir, born in Milan in 2010 and directed by Congolese director Raymond Bahati, with musicians from Burundi, Cameroon, Congo and Italy. Although it is Christian-inspired, it is not a liturgical choir, it is open to all and Faustin Ntsama, balafon and marimba player, explained the original purpose of the project was «to reverse course a bit» against the euro-centric acculturation processes typical of Catholic missions. I have examined the musical layers, namely the layers of intervention of African and Italian musicians in the final «combinatorics» (Aarom – Martin 2003), to understand what director Bahati defines «enhanced identity». The musicians interviewed often speak about «adaptations», a kind of «negotiations» (Macchiarella 2017), «compensations» (Vygotski 1993) in which performance, composition and relationship are inseparable.