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Interview with Francisco Nunez


BIO: Francisco J. Núñez, a recipient of a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship presented to individuals for their “exceptional originality in and dedication to their creative pursuits,” is the artistic director of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City™ (YPC), a composer, conductor, visionary, and leading figure in music education. In 1988 he founded YPC to provide children of all ethnic, religious, and economic backgrounds with a safe haven for personal and artistic growth and to date has changed the lives of thousands of young people. YPC is widely recognized for its exceptional caliber and has been cited as a model of artistic excellence and diversity by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities under the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations.


Continuing his long history of bringing children of all kinds together to lead fuller and more productive lives, Mr. Núñez recently began a collaboration with the Dominican Republic to create a children’s choral program as part of a national effort called Uno a Uno (One by One), to unite the country’s children as a first step in bringing the Dominican community together through the arts.


Francisco Núñez’s early years contributed to his passion for providing children with a path to fulfilling their life’s potential. He grew up in close-knit Dominican family in New York City’s Washington Heights. As a piano prodigy, he spent his time away from school at home practicing piano. Through his musical talent, he met other children with the same interests in music but who came from different cultural and economic environments. He learned from them, and they learned from him. After he graduated from NYU as a piano performance major, he formed the Young People’s Chorus of New York City™, bringing children from underserved neighborhoods together with children from more privileged circumstances. With music as the equalizer, the diversity in the group resulted in new vocal colors and a confident urban style, creating not only a vibrant new choral sound, but also an avenue for children to succeed. As an authority on the subject, he is often invited to give keynote addresses at choral symposia and conferences across the country.


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Mr. Núñez is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2009 ASCAP Concert Music Award, the 2009 New York Choral Society’s Choral Excellence Award, and the 2005 Liberty Award from the New York Post. Hispanic Business magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics of 2005; GMC’s national campaign hailed him as an unsung Hispanic hero; and La Sociedad Coral Latinoamericana honored him as its 2009 Man of the Year.


Interview Questions:


Barbara: What were the circumstances that led to the founding of YPC? What were some of the driving forces behind the scenes?


Francisco: I grew up in Washington Heights, which was quite segregated back in those days; with different groups of people, but not so many Dominicans, and each group kept to itself. You could live in your segregated neighborhood and you wouldn’t even have to speak English to get by. You would stay in your own community and follow the rules of that community. For my family, music was always there; music was important to my mother. I had a piano at age six and by the time I was eight years old, I gave a concert that everyone enjoyed. My piano playing took me out of my community. As I continued to play, I met other kinds of people and this opened up an entire world for me, opening my mind. I was a piano major and once out of college I continued to meet other people, other musicians.


Barbara: I’m thinking about your choirs that largely serve youth in urban areas. What did you perceive the needs to be at that time you began the YPC?


Francisco: After graduating from college I wanted to create a program where children from different communities could learn from each other and about themselves. What would it be like to create a program where we could learn about one’s self. I asked questions like: Who am I? Where am I going? What am I going to do? I wanted to combine different groups of people and bring them together. For example, in New York at that time, the wealthy and the poor had few opportunities to mix. There was also the question of race and ethnicity and even religion, with


Barbara O’Hagin


each group not wanting to mix with others. In response to these issues, I wanted to create an institution where I could bring people together to reflect a changing America. Singing great music and maintaining high artistic standards was very important. Once I created YPC, we worked very hard to create this institution; it was serious work. We were energized. It was wonderful! The intention was to offer an expanded choral experience—not limiting the experiences to being only choral-conscious. Take for example, our recent efforts with the Transient Glory Symposium (which we presented in collaboration with Carnegie Hall), meeting with critical acclaim.1 We included chamber works and the works of instrumentalists and living composers in the performances. Another example, I recently programmed Grieg’s Piano Concerto at our annual YPC Gala concert. My philosophy is to go beyond the choral experience. I want to offer children musical experiences that are all- encompassing. I believe in surrounding our young people with great sounds, not simply preparing them to sing a two- hour-long concert. Young people should encounter the greatest music ever written. YPC operates with this different paradigm, and it is amazing!


Barbara: Are those needs the same today? If so, what has changed?


Francisco: Although I still continue to see some segregation in our schools and neighborhoods, I believe there has been improvement and some good news. Nowadays many schools are bringing together different groups of children under one roof. So yes, it’s a much better situation, but we still have a way to go both socially and economically. For example, there is a movement that advocates that a better way of life is to stay with your own people, your own kind. But I believe differently. I believe it’s vital to be open to new and different ideas. I also think that we need to do more with our musical repertoire. Multicultural music and new music is often segregated from the rest of the classical repertoire in programs. I like to program in a varied style.


Barbara: Have you initiated any similar YPC organizations in any other cities?


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