Father Gildasio Mendes, the General Councillor for Social Communication, Rome, chaired the meeting while Father Ernest Rosario, coordinator of BOSCOM the South Asian media network, coordinated and moderated the meeting which lasted for about 90 minutes. Addressing the online meeting Father Mendes spoke of four main purposes for the meeting; to identify and acknowledge the Salesian musicians, to get to know the kind of music that is produced, to create a network of South Asia Salesian musicians on WhatsApp and to make available our music worldwide.
All the participants expressed their excitement about being part of this long dream of coming together as Salesian music composers. Each of the participants, young and old, accomplished and upcoming shared briefly about their musical experiences and contributions in various settings. Later, the floor was left open for the brainstorming of ideas and suggestions to move forward together in the ministry of music. Some of the highlights are; to make available the original music tracks for adaptation into other regional languages, to create common channel/playlists where all our music can be accessed, to restart brass bands in our institutions, to create publicity for Salesian productions, to organise Province level and regional level music production competitions, to encourage young Salesians to get involved in music production, etc.
“It is high time that we put our hearts and souls together to make our musical contributions known far and wide and inspire the world”, said Father Jesudoss from Chennai. For Don Bosco, an oratory without music was like a body without a soul. Music for him was a great tool of education and formation. As the meeting came to a happy conclusion the participants had the feeling of a new beginning and hoped that the next generation of musicians would have more opportunities and platforms to put their creative talents to use. Everyone felt happy that they were recognized and appreciated for having been part of this historic initiative and being a source of inspiration, strength and vitality to the South Asian region.
Fr Ernest Rosario, SDB
Source: Don Bosco South Asia
