Our donors and collaborators are numerous and extremely varied: friends, neighbours, musicians, work colleagues, relatives, conservatories, instrument shops, luthiers, orchestras, reed and mouthpiece makers, material providers, and so many others…
For the transport of the instruments, a big chain of volunteers was set up.
THE AIR FRANCE FONDATION
The Foundation of the Air France Company supports those associations that work on behalf of children. About a hundred projects are selected among the thousand that are presented every year. Thanks to the Foundation’s generosity, our budget for the “building of the Music School” was secured in 2014. In 2015, the Foundation helped us to build the courtyard and to buy the specific tools for the instrument repair workshop. In 2017 and 2018, the Foundation gave us its support again for a new project, the building of a luthier workshop.
LE DON DU CHŒUR
Promoting access to education and developing a spirit of solidarity from an early age, such is our ambition. With the Don du Chœur association, children of Geneva sing and commit for other children who are underprivileged, ill or handicapped. Throughout their 15 years of action, they have contributed to the education of 2,500 children of Russia, India, Cambodia, Kenya and Madagascar. In May 2019, the sixth concert of Don du Chœur is dedicated to the expansion of the Santa Cecilia Music School in Oaxaca. 400 young choristers will perform, among other pieces, Cielito Lindo, to the accompaniment recorded by the children of La Banda de Musica!
RAISE
Gonzague de Blignières is an important sponsor of the Banda de Música; he is very keen on supporting all the projects that promote a better world. Along with Clara Gaymard, Gonzague de Blignières created Raise. Thanks to the generosity of his team, that leaves 50% of its income to an endowment fund, bridges are being built between people and companies instead of walls.
BUFFET CRAMPON
Buffet Crampon, founded in 1825 and professional wind instruments world leader, uses his know-how in order to propose the best quality for his student range of instruments. Buffet Crampon is involved in many Musical Education Programs worldwide and is particularly proud to support La Banda de Musica.
THE ARTELIA FOUNDATION
The Artelia Foundation sets itself apart from other organisations by lending skills-based support to associations, charities and non-profit organisations. This strategy enables Artelia’s employees to draw on their expertise and technical knowledge in order to create solid foundations for successful environmental, humanitarian or social projects.
SELMER
Created in 1885, the Henri SELMER Society Paris is a family business specialised in the making of very first class instruments: saxophones, clarinets and mouthpieces. The Selmer instruments designed for exceptional use are still being made with methods learned from the traditional luthier art.
VANDOREN
Jean-Paul Gauvin’s name is part and parcel of the Vandoren company, world leader in reed making. Vandoren also makes mouthpieces for clarinets and saxophones, and accessories.
BAM
BAM is the leader of case-making on the French and international markets, and offers a wide selection of cases made for wind and string instruments by artisans. On top of boasting ingenious designs, the BAM cases are created with light materials using cutting-edge technology.
KEYS OF CHANGE
Solo pianist Panos Karan is the founder of this English association that promotes the idea that music can change the world. Since 2011, Keys of Change has shared its music with isolated, sick or distressed children in the Amazon, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Calcutta, Greece, Russia and in Fukushima in the wake of the tsunami. For Panos, music helps build bridges between people and promote positive social change all over the planet.
THE AIR FRANCE CHOIR
Founded in 1986, the Air France Choir boasts 80 choristers either active or retired from the company. A lot of job descriptions are represented between the flight personnel and the ground staff. The choristers donated several instruments and four big concerts were given for the benefit of the Banda in 2018: 2 in Paris with the Orchestra of the Paris Regional Conservatory (CRR), and 2 in Mexico (Oaxaca and Mexico City)!
ONDES PLURIELLES
Ondes plurielles is a Parisian amateur orchestra that opens up to all repertoires, from the great symphonic to chamber music, from baroque music to contemporary creations. Beyond the artistic and human adventure, the musicians are involved in the solidarity commitments carried by the orchestra: to offer concerts for the benefit of humanitarian causes.
MUSIC FUND
The Belgian association Music Fund supports young musicians and music schools that are located in developing countries or conflict zones (Palestine, Mozambique, Haiti…). It coordinates the collection of instruments in Europe and then takes care of their restoration. The association also offers its expertise in repair and maintenance so that the donated instruments can last a long time.
THE LUTHIERS (VIOLINS/CELLOS) AND THE BOW MAKERS
Lots of them accepted to lend us their help: Guy Coquoz, Bernard Sabatier, Christophe Depierre and François Champarnaud, Claire Ryder, Jean Bejuy, Benoît Cordonnier, Gilles Chancereul, Alberto Comé, Guillaume Planché, and for the bows, Claudia Carmona and Craig Ryder. Some of them donate instruments, cases, strings, bows or material for repair, while others give their time to repair the instruments. They are a fantastic team in which every person plays a crucial part!
FONDATION LEA
The LEA Foundation wants above all to inspire people to get involved in beautiful projects focused primarily on children. For LEA, children are the most effective way to change the world; they all deserve dignified attention, regardless of their country, culture or religion. Education is at the center of our concerns, in Slovakia – our country of origin – and in the world.
CHÈDEVILLE-LELANDAIS
Created in 2005 by Michel Ryckeboer, the Chèdeville-Lelandais company makes pads for all wind instruments (clarinets, saxophones, flutes, oboes). Their pads are used by the finest makers (SELMER , YAMAHA, MARIGAUX…).
DONAT MOUTHPIECES
In their workshops at the heart of the French Alps, Benjamin, Frédéric y Dimitri Donat conceive and shape their mouthpieces for trumpets and trombones. Designed for musicians of all levels, the Donat mouthpieces are a by-word for top quality.
THE PAPPALARDO WORKSHOP
Antoine Pappalardo and his son Stéphane are famous luthiers who specialise in guitars. They have restored almost every guitar that was donated before it was flown to Mexico. This was a huge task considering the sheer quantity and the critical condition of some of these instruments, that were “saved” thanks to their expertise and patience.
LUTHIERS WITHOUT BORDERS
Luthiers without borders defines itself as an NGO dedicated to development aid. It favours an in-depth approach, training luthiers at the local level so as to build capacities and promote knowledge-sharing.
FRENCH LYCÉE, VIENNA
In the spring of 2015, a collection of instruments was set at the high school and in 2007, a concert was given for the benefit of the Banda. These initiatives build a bond between the children of the European capital of music and the young musicians of the Banda.
CADENCES
Jean Passegan, general manager of the Cadences shop, located in Dijon, donated eight brand-new instruments for the children of the Banda. That was a big novelty for us, who are used to refurbishing, repairing and mending bumps and scratches, and most of all, a novelty for the children, who had never seen new instruments before!
SAVAREZ
The Savarez house has been established in Lyon since 1770, and upholds a tradition from one generation to the next in the area of string-making for music instruments. The Savarez strings for classical guitars and the Corelli strings for bowed instruments are well-known and used by the best international musicians.
ARPÈGE & THE J-S BACH CONSERVATORY, BUSSY-SAINT-GEORGES (77)
The Arpège Parents Association and the Bussy Conservatory closely collaborate to support the Banda de Música: sheet music exchanges, concerts with Mexican pieces. The Conservatory donated 9 instruments and Arpège funded the purchasing of specific tools for the luthier initiation workshops.
FEELING MUSIQUE
A specialist in wind instruments, Jean-Claude Decalonne founded the organisation “Orchestras at school” and the association “Passeurs d’art”, that promotes the arts among the underprivileged young with a view to support equal opportunity and to reinforce social ties.
PHILIPPE LANGLET
A pupil of Maurice André, Philippe Langlet was the director of the Harmony Orchestras in Le Havre and head of the Dunkirk Conservatory. His curiosity and his willingness to tear down every obstacle led him to take part in several ambitious projects: DRaPOS , the National Association for the development and dissemination of musical practices at school, and “Coups de Vents” (European Area of research and training for wind instrument music).
THE JAZZ BROTHERS OF CHAMBLY
Marc Legay was our ambassador with the Harmonie de Chambly and his band “Jazz Brothers de Chambly” donated several instruments for the Banda.
ANDRÉ SIMONY
A concert guitar player, André recorded several cds and teaches the guitar at the Val Maubuée Conservatory. He is one of those few people who take a chance and set up music workshops in prisons or with autistic children.
THE POPPYS
The band proceed from the choir of the Little Singers of Asnières, created in 1946 by Jean Amoureux. Since the 1970,they have sung in the most prestigious venues: at the Paris Olympia with Enrico Macias or Gilbert Bécaud, at Bobino, at the Casino de Paris… They recently made several recordings and have performed on television with Roberto Alagna, Johnny Hallyday… In 2013, The Poppys gave a big concert for the benefit of the Banda de Música.
THE SANTA TERESA ENDOWMENT FUND
The Santa Teresa Endowment Fund hosts the Banda in France and also takes part in other solidarity projects. This structure supports the solidarity activities of the Santa Teresa de Ozoir campuses. Its dynamic president Richard Cellier is always a great help during the events organised locally for the benefit of the Banda.
THE EMMAÜS PILGRIMS, LE RUSSEY
Le Russey (25) is the native place of Little Sister Nicole, who lived in Oaxaca. The Emmaüs pilgrims of Le Russey made a donation to contribute to the purchase of the plot where the school of the Banda de Música has been built.
THE A CAPELLA CHILDREN’S CHOIR
At the initiative of their choirmaster Christophe Tran, the children of the A Capella Choir of Ozoir La Ferrière were the first ones, in June 2012, to dedicate a concert to the Banda de Música. They shared the stage with The Poppys in February 2013.
THE DIAPASON 77 CHOIR
The choir of the Ozoir la Ferrière Conservatory gave several concerts for the benefit of the Banda. The ever-faithful Christophe Tran accompanies the choristers from the piano.
LES TEMPÉRAMENS VARIATIONS CHAMBER CHOIR
Put forward by the famous organ player Helga Schauerte Maubouet and Thibault Lam Quang, choirmaster of the Les Tempéramens Variations chamber choir, the Christmas Oratorio has drawn big crowds at the German church of Paris for several concerts since 2014 for the benefit of the Banda de Música.
THE BIG CHANTILLY JAZZ BAND
The Chantilly Orchestras (VCC Chantilly) contributed to the endowment of our young musicians donating instruments and music stands.
THE ACHORRIPSIS CHOIR
Created in 1981 at the Roissy-en-Brie Music Conservatory, Achorripsis contributes on a regular basis to the concerts given for the “Téléthon”, those of the RETINA Association, and to other charity projects like the Banda de Música.
THE DUCASSE WORKSHOPS
Yannick Ducasse is the only bassoon maker in the world that makes bassoons for children.
LA BAGUETTERIE
A complete drum set was donated by the Neuilly House for Youth and Culture thanks to Olivier Colé, percussion teacher, and La Baguetterie handled its repair free of charge.
DORIAN HERMOSA
Dorian helped us during various interventions on our site: change of web address, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) …
All the music teachers and repair people who went to Oaxaca as volunteers:
(by chronological order)
Guitare : Beatrice Chevalier-Tavan, Dominique Chevalier,
Guitar: Béatrice Chevalier-Tavan, Dominique Chevalier,
Saxophone: Lucile Antoine
Percussions: Olivier Colé
Camera operator: Nicolas Gabriel
Wind instrument repairs: Mallory Ferreira, Alejandro Gonzalez, Martin Deutsch, Anne-Laure Grandvallet
Trumpet: Jean-Jacques Metz
Violin: Veronika Muehlbauer, Jesús Antonio López Porra, Daniel Glineur, Flavie Boeda
Cello: Iñaki Etxepare, Heloïse Lecomte, Pilar Gadea, Lucy French
Conducting and flute: Zach Tarpagos (Keys of Change), Yann Le Corre
Conducting and piano: Panos Karan, head of Keys of Change
Luthiers: Paul Jacobs, Sebastian Ribes, Yasser Huipe, Claudia Reynoso, Sandrine Boget, Benjamin Moreno, Claudine Martinez
Bow maker: Claudia Carmona
Double Bass: Nadine Amrani
French Horn: Lucien Julien-Laferrière
With the added visits of collaborating orchestra like Fanfares Sans Frontières and Surnaturel Orchestra.
The instrument repair workshops that took in our fledgling repair specialists and luthiers in Europe: SELMER Paris, VANDOREN Paris, Le PAVILLON Compiègne, YANNICK DUCASSE Romainville, CADENCES Dijon, BERTET MUSIQUE Grenoble, SONGJA FLÛTES Paris, FEELING MUSIQUE Paris, BERNARD SABATIER Paris, ANTOINE PAPPALARDO Paris, CHEVILLE ZELANDAIS Ezanville, Alexandre ESQUOY Montreuil, Jean Yves ROOZEN Paris, Pascal GILIS Bruxelles, Claudia CARMONA Angers, Guy COQUOZ Paris,ALBERTO COME Lagny, FOSSATI Amilly, VINCENT LIAUDET Yverdon Suisse, MARIGAUX Paris.
THE SOROPTIMISTS
Since 1921, the Soroptimists join forces to improve the lives of young women. They change mentalities by making a positive difference: One voice for a lasting education. In 2014, the S oroptimist group of Paris-Est-Vincennes awarded a scholarship to Paty to fund part of her studies in wind instrument repair.
… and countless other collaborators who keep lending us their help!