Last night the Orfeón Pamplonés
played 'Carmina Burana' at Lincoln Center in its debut along the New
York Philharmonic. They got a cheerful and standing ovation. A lot of
“bravos” were shouted and some left the theater singing. What
most of the audience didn't know is that the members of this historic
chorus sing for free. They are policemen, farmers, teachers or
students that use their holidays to rehearse, to travel and to sing
just for the pleasure of music and recognition.
They are from Pamplona, where not
everything is about the running of the bulls (a very American thing
to do that most Spaniards have never done, never watched and fully
ignore or despise). These talented musicians are an example of
excellency in a country whose education and social system rarely push
you in that direction. The impulse to go through life just for the
sake of survival and to lower the bar is one of the true roots of
some of the troubles Spain is facing. Well beyond the rising prices
of debt.
The chorus finances itself with the
earnings from the concerts. But it has another arm that teaches young
students music that needs public financing and private sponsors. Since
the crisis began, they have lost all the companies that use to give them
money. All of them. And they weren't that many to begin with.
Philanthropy in Spain is rare and not focused, as Eileen Rockefeller told me a few months ago, just before she flew to Madrid to explain the Botins and other wealthy families how to give back to your community. Maybe they support Nigerian Art in the British Museum, but most of the donations like this one -a real example- are born out of a personal inclination, far from the community and with no long term plan attached to it. Successful Spaniards rarely have the sense of commitment that in the US is routine for private institutions, big newspapers or entrepreneurs. Maybe because whoever excels doesn't perceive that the community was particularly supportive and not at all glad that something good was done.
And that's a deeper and long-term
malaise that one day ends up too in an unbearable yield in the
sovereign debt markets.
Hello María!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you when mentioning that Spanish education and social system rarely push you into excellency.
I have been thinking the same for the last 5 years, and two days ago I lived an experience that reaffirm my beliefs:
I work for an American company in Madrid and last Thursday we received the visit of two 18 year old cadetes of the US Army that are doing a tour around Europe sponsored by my company.
Some colleagues and I were volunteered by our managers to show these two young ladies how we work, what we do, a bit of the Spanish culture and how amazing it is working in a multicultural environment.
At the beginning of the visit we decided that a good icebreaker would be talking a bit about ourselves. And so we started introducing each other. When they told us about them, I was impressed on how incredibly clear they had their strategy through life. They knew where they wanted to be in 5 and in 10 years time, and how to achieve that target... For me that is having a very clear perspective of life, and that leads to excellency. Do you think that most of the 18, 25 or even 30 year old people in Spain have that straight forward way of thinking? Do they know where they are and what they need to do to succeed? Do they even think about succeeding?...
By the way, fantastic blog!
Buena suerte y saludos desde Madrid!!!
David