Sing, sing, my people: a literature review on the children's choir in the annals of ABEM National Congresses

Abstract

The article presents partial data from a literature review, of a systematic and autonomous nature, whose general objective is to understand what the contents of journals and annals of ABEM and ANPPOM reveal about children and youth choir practice. The results discussed concern the contents of articles published in 15 annals of ABEM National Congresses, held from 2001 to 2019. The review was organized in two distinct stages. The first dealt with the identification of the articles and the second, in progress, with the reading and analysis of the contents. The analysis of the articles is guided by a script whose data are discussed in weekly meetings between the researchers. Considering the complexity that permeates the use of certain terminologies in the universe of choral singing, conceptions about the terms choir, children's youth and choral practice were outlined. Such conceptions collaborated in the definition of criteria for inclusion and exclusion of articles for the review. Of the 2753 articles published in the aforementioned annals, a total of 37 publications bring discussions about the children's and youth choir. Through six categories of analysis, we highlighted the highlights and predominance of topics discussed, as well as gaps in poorly explored subjects. The critical journey, of exhaustive and rigorous work with the review of the area, will be able to provide a general framework, guiding studies and bringing reflections on the paths that can be followed in the scope of academic productions on the children's and youth choir.