WHY WE DO IT
UNESCO includes performing arts and oral traditions in what is considered cultural intangible heritage, and defines it as “an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization”.
Traditional singing, both a performing art and an oral tradition, is a vital aspect of community cultural heritage, and it is under threat of extinction. Many traditional singing techniques are being lost worldwide as older generations pass away.
In the Americas, the impact on communities where these traditions are born can be even bigger, due to massive immigration, domestic as well as international.
OUR MISSION
Voices of the Americas Heritage Institute is the first and only U.S. organization dedicated to specifically preserving and promoting the rich heritage of traditional singing of the Americas. By leveraging new technologies and music diplomacy, VTA Heritage Institute wants to bridge generations of artists and communities across borders, to ensure that the voices of the past continue to resonate through the voices of the future.
While walking its road to conservation and promotion of the traditional singing heritage of the Americas, VTA Heritage Institute is committed to consistently fostering intercultural dialogue and encouraging mutual respect, ultimately leading to understanding.
OUR VALUES
Music is a confluence of different elements and it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of a musical tradition, which is why Voices of the Americas Heritage Institute defines traditional singing as “the entirety of singing traditions, from indigenous singing to modern folk singing” of the Americas. While musical contamination is inevitable and it is actually what enriches music, it is important to recognize the specific communities where a singing tradition originates, documenting their authentic musical heritage and preserving their singing legacy with rigor and respect. Driven by this belief Voices of the Americas Heritage Institute advocates for:
Preserving and valuing the history and authenticity of singing traditions and supporting the communities from where they come.
Connecting traditional singing and music communities of the Americas to create a bridge for intercultural cooperation and understanding.
Innovating the way traditional singing and music are discovered and learned, by leveraging new technologies.
THE IDEA AND ITS FOUNDER
Gianluca Perdicaro founded Voices of the Americas Heritage Institute in Miami in 2023 and serves as its President. A former singer and vocal coach, he is a higher education executive with nearly twenty years of work between universities and the performing arts.
His first career was on stage. He taught opera and modern singing for more than twenty years in Europe and the United States, with master classes at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 2011 Tony Renis asked him to be the vocal coach of the three young tenors of Il Volo for their North American and European tour. For more than ten years he was a main backing vocalist with the Italian national TV orchestras, working with maestros such as Nicola Piovani, Renato Serio and Gianni Ferrio. He played Gringoire in Notre Dame de Paris, sang in films and cartoons for The Walt Disney Company, and was an examiner for Trinity College London in classical, jazz and pop.
In 2007 he co-founded Roma Rock School in Italy. He then designed Middlesex University London’s BA (Hons) in Modern Music and brought it to Italy, and founded UWS Music Italy with the University of the West of Scotland, bringing UK master’s degrees in music to the country for the first time. Today he advises universities on transnational education partnerships and writes the University Ecosystems newsletter. He is a member of the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance and of Americans for the Arts.
He created the institute because many traditional singing practices of the Americas are fading with the generations who carry them, and because the people who could keep them alive, singers and families, scholars and students, festivals and archives, rarely meet. The institute exists to bring them together, so that the voices of the past keep reaching the voices of the future.
I always believed that new technologies, used well, can help old heritage stay alive. A grandmother’s song recorded on a phone, an unknown archive discovered online: each one is a small bridge between generations. That is why I welcome a smart use of AI. AI carries the patient work of this website in the background, finding sources, translating, keeping records, so that the time that matters goes to people: singers and families, students and teachers. One rule guides this approach of mine: AI keeps the voices and never makes them.
Gianluca Perdicaro
Read our AI CharterPARTNERS & AFFILIATIONS
Founded in 1851, designated a preeminent university in the state of Florida, is one of the most respected research and learning institutions in the country. FSU College of Music is the third largest university-based music program in the nation. FSU Center for Music of the Americas promotes the scholarship, performance, and dissemination of musics found in the American Hemisphere, from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic Circle.
The University of the Andes is an autonomous, independent and innovative institution that promotes pluralism, tolerance and respect for ideas; which seeks academic excellence and provides its students with critical and ethical training to strengthen their awareness of their social and civic responsibilities, as well as their commitment to the environment.
The nonprofit preserves and celebrates music from America’s diverse cultural history, envisioning an engaged and informed citizenry that respects people of varying backgrounds and appreciates how different cultures have contributed to America’s musical landscape. Founded by Matthew Sabatella, Vice President of the Southeast regional chapter of Folk Alliance International (SERFA).
The best online platform for learning folk music from traditional musicians from Europe, Canada and USA, through high-quality video lessons, live-streamed masterclasses & concerts.
Nonprofit organization with a crucial role in establishing international relationships. Since 1959 part of the Global Ties U.S. network, founded by President Kennedy in 1961 and supported by the U.S. Department of State.
The Society was first named in honor of Oscar G. T. Sonneck, early Chief of the Music Division in the Library of Congress and pioneer scholar of American music. The Society for American Music is a constituent member of the American Council of Learned Societies.
AFFILIATION
Americans for the Arts serves, advances, and leads the network of organizations and individuals who cultivate, promote, sustain, and support the arts in America. Americans for the Arts is the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education.
AFFILIATION
Open call for institutions, singers, musicians, content creators, digital artists, writers, bloggers, music reviewers, researchers, scholars, non-profit/grants experts, or anyone simply interested in traditional singing. Let’s get together and create something meaningful.