It’s a Small World, the saying goes — so small, in fact, that CoroAllegro hopes to take you “Around the World in Eighty Minutes” at its choral concert later this week. 

This amazingly diverse and intense collection of folk and local music, packed into a program less than an hour and a half in length, spans six continents, 15 different cultures and 11 languages.

The program is mostly locally grown folk music —  a wild Scottish dance, a tender Korean love ballad, a sentimental American tune, a popular Argentinian bossa nova, an evocative Estonian ode. There’s a Ukrainian shepherd song, driving and intense; a hand-clapping Arabic invocation of praise; an anguished, layered musical poem where tribal Aboriginal folk struggle with the overwhelming confusion of modern, civilized chaos. 

And there’s the sweet, sentimental Irish ballad “Danny Boy.”  Around the world with your head still spinning, but home in time for bed!

“There is so much unique cultural expression that comes through the music,” says Sam Stein, CoroAllegro’s interim music director.

The group’s hope, he says, is that music brings humankind together into community. 

Consider a Ukrainian shepherding song, set against a Russian folk dance — two songs from countries currently locked in a death match. Challenged to justify his programming decision, Stein said, “The people who made the music have no animosity toward one another.”

CoroAllegro is something of a musical institution in the area.  Now in its 36^th season, it has established a reputation for creative and sometimes unusual programming. The group has been known for taking chances, chorally speaking, including commissioning a number of new works from local and nationally known composers, and presenting challenging pieces from outside of the traditional canon. 

Recent offerings include “Madrigal Mystery Tour” (a Beatles review), “Fifty Years of Disney,” and an entire program featuring women composers.

“We are trying to bring the music to a broader audience” says Becky Kelly, board president. “Through partnering and collaborating with local groups, we support the causes that we believe in while we make the best music we’re capable of.”

CoroAllegro (loosely translated from the Italian — “Merry Choir”) is a labor of love for its singers, who include both professional musicians and experienced amateurs. Periodically, it expands its chamber choir profile to become CoroAllegro and Friends, inviting singers from the area to join in putting on larger-scale works with orchestral accompaniment. 

Speaking of partnering with local groups, CoroAllegro is sharing the platform (literally) this time with Water Is Life Kenya (WILK).

This vital Newark-based nonprofit is focused on getting water access for the indigenous and drought-stricken Maasai people of Kenya. 

“We have 27 active clean water projects, and we’ve been able to serve about 80,000 people,” says Aaron Lemma, operations and outreach manager. “Our new program, Hope for Widows, helps make survival possible for women who have lost their husbands.” 

As an added bonus, Joyce Tannian, co-founder and executive director of WILK, also happens to be a well-known vocal artist.  She’ll join the group and perform the solo part on “Sigalagala,” a Lua spiritual praise song made popular by the Muungano National Choir of Kenya.

It’s not just a small world.  It’s a fragmented, fractured world.  CoroAllegro keeps hoping that holding up the unique musical voices of our variety can also reclaim what makes us all human together.

CoroAllegro presents “Around the World in Eighty Minutes,” Friday, April 28, 7:30 p.m., at Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Newark. Also, Saturday, April 29 at 7 p.m. at Concord Presbyterian Church, Wilmington. Tickets available at coroallegro.com. CoroAllegro is funded in part by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts.

Carl Burnam is a tenor with CoroAllegro.

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The Importance of Cattle

Maasai is one of 45 recognized tribes (social groups) in Kenya and, although not the largest group, it’s characterized by its distinctive attire and traditions. One of the few indigenous tribes to inhabit its ancestral lands along the Kenyan-Tanzanian border, Maasai recently have been relegated to areas less conducive to nomadic life. Still, cattle is the most important sign of wealth for Maasai men. The more, the better. The bigger, the better. Cattle is central to Maasai culture and ritual.

Cows equal currency. For example, they’re used as a dowry and given to a young woman’s father before she can be married. Often, only elder Maasai have enough cows to afford this, so the marriage ritual itself is a status symbol for men, especially those who can afford to have more than one wife. Families negotiate the number of cows and perhaps other livestock needed in the dowry before the marriage can take place. On the day of the wedding, a bull will be sacrificed, both as a symbol and also as means of food for the ceremony.

Cows are also used as payment for any infractions or conflicts that arise. Currently, with a two-year-long drought affecting all facets of Maasai life, they’re being sold off as a last resort so that food and school fees can be paid. Even when they have nothing else, cows are critical to the survival of the Maasai.

Changes in Cattle Cultivation

A large herd of cattle may build social status, but cows in particular are also important in practical ways. Milk, for example, is consumed in ritual ceremonies, given to the sick, and mixed in food staples with meals. Occasionally, bulls are butchered at celebrations. Feeding and herding cattle is a vital part of daily life for Maasai because it’s necessary to keep them healthy. This is also why, in many cases, they’re considered more important than women and children to Maasai elders.

The culture has had to adapt to a changing environment, however. With more extensive droughts occurring more often, sufficient water and grass are harder to find so men have had to extend grazing practices beyond their normal areas. Politically, land has been meted out or sold outright, which also affects where cattle can and can’t roam. Limited resources and restricted areas have tightened the yoke, so to speak, for Maasai herders, which means that other methods of cultivation have been adopted for the sake of survival.

Although the concept of cattle as cash is firmly ingrained in Maasai culture, the ways cows are cultivated have had to change. Herders are learning how to maintain healthy cows that then can be sold in the market for a higher value. Also, preventing illness means that more cows survive, even in severe drought conditions. Choosing certain breeds of cows is another way the ensure that money invested yields better profits. Rather than having the most cattle, Maasai are making better choices without changing or abandoning their cultural traditions.

Protecting Maasai Culture

Maasai culture is old, traditional, and multifaceted. It’s both fixed and flexible. And it’s been under threat for a long time. Even though the Maasai can’t totally continue a nomadic existence, they still keep many of their cultural traditions.

Respect for their lifestyle, beliefs, and practices is necessary if we want to help them. The Maasai have been resilient enough to withstand colonization, plagues, and conflicts. WILK’s role is to help Maasai maintain their traditional culture while benefitting from social institutions (like schools and businesses) so that they can choose how to live.

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