“Diamoci un tono”: the Jesuit School Network Music Competition

On Monday June 7th all the classes from almost all the Jesuit School of the Euro Mediterranean Province, from Primary schools to high schools, had been connected for the entire morning to attend the online final ceremony of the musical competition “Diamoci (ancora) un tono”. It has been a unique moment, all connected (even if remotely), interacting and participating, unified by the music.

The musical competition “Diamoci un tono” is now at its 10th edition. It started 11 years ago at the Istituto Sociale, the Jesuit school in Turin, with a only-local dimension. It was originally designed as a musical competition for the students of the school. An opportunity to let them express their artistic talents, to encourage them to use the music as a significant mean of communication (at all levels, as singer or players, individually or in groups/band, with classical music or modern, performing famous songs or creating their own). We were all surprised by the participation and by the level of the participants. Therefore, we decided to expand this initiative to the entire network of Jesuit schools in Italy (and, lately, also to Albania and to Fe Y Alegria Italia).

Unfortunately, in 2020 we had been unable to organize the competition due to the Covid emergency, but in 2021 the competition has been reorganized in a new way, fully online, and even expanded to the Primary Schools (which were previously excluded).

All the schools involved selected internally their participants. Then, each participant has to send a video of his/her performance to a jury, which has voted the winners.

The live ceremony of  Monday June 7th has been the opportunity not only to announce the winners, but also for a significant networking event. Each school had the opportunity to interact and to participate, connecting remotely, and attending the performance of the famous Italian player Eugenio Cesaro, founder of the ban “Eugenio in Via di Gioia”, which attended in the past also the famous Sanremo Festival.

This 10th edition of the competition was organised by the Jesuit Education Foundation and coordinated by Istituto Sociale and prof. Angelo Chionna as artistic director.

Music is a powerful artistic mean for expressing ourselves. It is incredible the artistic potential that many of our students have. Unfortunately, this talent is not always adequately considered, especially at school (and, specifically, in the Italian system).

The value and the message we want to share is that “music is life” and that today, with music, we can still express the life and emotions that reside in us. With this competition we hope to be able to play together in presence, truly believing that collaboration in doing exceptional things is always possible, no matter the “means” and whether online or in presence.

Congratulations to all participants for the very high level of their performances!

Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to all the organizations and all the schools that make this event possible.

You can see the list of all the winners here: https://educazione.gesuiti.it/2021/06/08/torino-ecco-i-vincitori-di-diamoci-un-tono-2021/

You can see the recording (partial, due to copyright) of the final ceremony here: https://youtu.be/4BD7wcc4Gko  (the recording will be available only until mid July due to copyright reasons)