An Anthem of Inclusion

The story behind Blessing-Bendición

By Laurie Evan Fraser

Cantemos, 2012

The Upper Canada Choristers has a history of showcasing multicultural music from many world traditions. In our May 2005 concert, we included the following statement in our program: The people of Toronto come from all over the world, and so do the members of this choir. The more we learn from each other about our musical traditions, the smaller the world gets. But at the same time our world gets richer – denser somehow, sweeter, concentrated, more and more delicious.

In 2008 we founded Cantemos. Formed with a nucleus of choir members from Colombia and Venezuela, the singers in Cantemos continued the multi-cultural model of membership in the larger choir, with a commitment as ambassadors of Latin American music.

There were growing pains in amalgamating the pre-existing, non-auditioned Main Choir with the newly formed, auditioned ensemble, Cantemos. There were misunderstandings, fear, and jealousy. In trying to bridge the gap, I decided to write a piece of music that would represent the main cultures of the two groups. I started with the Irish Blessing, a text well-known and appreciated by most choir members, and I asked the Latin American members of Cantemos if there was a comparable text in Spanish. They told me there is a children's prayer known throughout Latin American that acts as a benediction.

Blessing-Bendición has become an anthem for the choir, one that we sing regularly to end our concerts. The song acknowledges our commonalities while paying homage to outlooks unique to our separate cultures. It received a lot of glowing comments from our audiences when we toured Japan in 2019. They were moved by the sense of inclusion and the respect inherent in the song.