Roma children shine at festival Menuhin gala concert – September 2010

The Roma children of MIRET shined at the galaconcert held during the international Menuhin festival in Gstaad, Switzerland.

The Artistic Director of MIRET, Ida Kelarová, invited 28 Roma children from the Slovak and Czech Republic and 25 children from Switzerland to share the stage with her in Gstaad, Switzerland.

A group of selected talented Roma children from Slovak and Brno dance and vocal groups, accompanied by the members of MIRET, were invited to perform at a prestigious festival held in the picturesque village Gstaad to represent Romani culture and music. The age of participants ranged from 2 to 25 years.

The whole project was created 3 years ago in 2007, when the last festival Gypsy Celebration was held. The Menuhin festival organizer visitied this festival and for was intrigued by the workshops and performances of talented Roma children. It was there when a plan was born, but to realize it, i.e to take the Roma children to the festival in Switzerland was a process that took 3 long years. All the work and preperation done with the soloists, choir members and dancers payed off and everyone could enjoy the fruits of their effort.

The following day right after their arrival in Switzerland, the Roma children started work on their own dance performances, and in the afternoon they met with the Swiss children who attended music class at the local school.

The purpose of these intercultural meetings was mainly to exchange experiences and work together on inspirational projects. In three days the young talented children, lead by Ida Kelarová, succeeded in preparing a concert performance featuring around 10 songs, solo and choir.

Ida Kelarová with her years of experience succeeded in merging the two completely different groups of children into a natural Czech-Swiss harmony. Their mutual language was the language of song and they communicated by singing. This shared experience on stage in front of 4000 spectators was so strong, that they could not hide their tears when saying goodbye.