This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 1, 2013 - Last February, the Beacon reported on American Voices, a non-profit organization with the goal of bridging barriers of languages and cultural traditions between America and emerging nations in areas such as the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe by sharing American music and art forms with these cultures.
Founded in 1993 with a focus on recently independent Central European countries, American Voices has expanded over the past two decades to showcase a wide variety of American music, dance and theatrical performances in 110 countries.
The organization now has its headquarters in St. Louis, and Marc Thayer, director of education for American Voices, actually started working part-time with them five years ago while he was vice president for education and community partnerships with the St. Louis Symphony.
Thayer set up partnerships for AV with Saint Louis University and the Symphony’s Youth Orchestra to bring students from Iraq and Lebanon to study music and English. As he became more and more involved with American Voices, Thayer decided to resign his position with SLSO in May 2011 to work fulltime with AV.
Ten months ago, American Voices was in the final phase of choosing bands from across the United States to tour the world from September 2012 through April 2013 as part of its new American Music Abroad program. In late February 2012, a competition took place in St. Louis, New York and San Francisco to choose the 12 bands that are representing American Voices on American Music Abroad tours around the world.
The Beacon caught up with Thayer while he was riding a train from St. Louis to Albuquerque, N.M., and got an update on what’s been happening with American Voices – and what’s coming in 2013.
Thayer has written about his experiences in the Beacon in a series of “Letters From Iraq,” as well as describing his experiences entering Gaza through a tunnel to work with Palestinian musicians. One of his most recent letters is from Thailand.
“The band tours have really been going well so far,” says Thayer. “We’ve had groups go to North Africa, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and China – among other places. I spent a good part of October and November in North Africa and the Middle East, and we’ve also been presenting arts academies in Iraq, Sudan and Thailand so far this year.”
In terms of what’s coming up for American Voices in 2013, Thayer quickly emphasized another round of competition for bands that want to be part of the next round of American Music Abroad tours from the fall of 2013 to spring 2014.
“The deadline to apply for the competition is coming up on Jan. 18, so bands still have a chance to be considered,” Thayer says. “The competition is open to trios, quartets and quintets, and it involved sending us links to videos and MP3s, and filling out and sending in the application that’s on the American Music Abroad website.” (That website is www.amvoices.org/ama.)
Although American Voices has a worldwide presence, Thayer also touched on AV efforts in St. Louis – especially the continuing scholarship program AV has put together with Saint Louis University.
“We have two students – one from Iraq and one from Gaza – who have come over here on SLU scholarships,” he says.“ And we’re also working on some musical events that will take place here this coming year. People can check out our website and our Facebook page, American Music Abroad 2012-13, to keep up on what will be happening.”