Children‘s Choral Singing is an Important Part of Individual Personality Formation and of Social Cohesion

Ema Cerar

Summary:  The paper discusses the experiences of a children‘s choir at one of the Slovenian elementary schools with the aim to illustrate and evaluate the importance of choral singing for learning prosociality and community building. Its value is based on two foundations: the recognition of human dignity and the strengthening of awareness and behaviour with humanity as its value, direction and goal. Choral singing is presented as a norm of the community which has its own formation process and thereby establishes ethical and aesthetic bonds also externally. It highlights the important role of the choirmaster who constantly connects the mind and heart and is a role model for the singers. In their work, the choir director is focused both on working directly with the singers and paying attention to the context of the time of creation. The paper also provides a critical analysis of the current events during and after the pandemic, with the aim to recognize and consider the warnings that require wise judgment of action. This is of fundamental importance for working responsibly with the young.