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18. The Educator, Part 3 (1942–1962)
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18 The Educator, Part 3 (1942–1962) During the two decades preceding his retirement in 1962, Plaza expanded his educational activities. He continued teaching and lecturing , accepted new administrative and governmental responsibilities, and made several trips abroad to study foreign educational methods. First Trip Abroad on Behalf of Music Education in Venezuela, 1942 Plaza’s first trip to observe foreign pedagogical methods lasted from March to June of 1942 and involved visits to several North American cities. He had already been invited to the United States, to give lectures on Venezuelan colonial music (see chapter 15). In order to extend and facilitate that travel, the Ministry of National Education named him Special Commissioner to study the organization of music education in the United States and Mexico. Plaza left Caracas on March 3, and after a stop in Washington he arrived in New York later in the month. After some initial presentations on Venezuelan colonial music, he traveled to Wisconsin to attend the biennial convention of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) held from March 28 to April 2 in Milwaukee. There he joined a group of Latin American musicians who were also interested in observing North American methods of music education.1 The board of directors of the MENC acted as host, so that each Latin American visitor was escorted to meetings and other activities by a board member. Together the Latin American musicians elaborated a number of projects relative to musical rapprochement between their countries. Later, Plaza and two of the Latin American visitors, António Sá Pereira and Luis Sandi, visited Des Moines, Detroit, and Rochester. In Des Moines they spent a week learning about the Des Moines Civic Music Plan. In Rochester, Plaza visited the Eastman School of Music and attended the Twelfth Annual Festival of American Music, where he listened with pleasure to chamber and symphonic works by young composers. He also made trips to visit the School of Music at Yale University and the High School of Music and Art in New York,2 as well as schools in Chicago, Cleveland, Kansas City, and elsewhere. He became familiar with the work of Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, Howard Hanson, Henry Cowell, and William Schuman, though it is unclear whether he actually met these men.3 In a radio interview, he spoke of his admiration for the thriving North American musical movement, which he felt reflected perfectly a vigorous, optimistic mentality. He expressed his profound interest in North American pedagogical methods, which taught children to learn quickly to read music and thus form the basis of a solid musical culture.4 On June 3 Plaza traveled to Mexico to study the organization of Mexican music education. Luis Sandi, whom Plaza had met in the United States, acted as his guide and took him to different schools. Plaza particularly liked the importance accorded in Mexican schools to national folklore. He was also “exceedingly surprised” by a new, original method of teaching theory and musicianship practiced by Professor Baqueiro at the conservatory and believed it would be applicable in Caracas.5 The Orquesta Sinfónica de México conducted by Carlos Chávez impressed him, as did Sandi’s Coro de Madrigalistas, which Plaza felt to be on a level with the best in the world. Although he did not have the chance to become familiar with the work of contemporary Mexican composers, he did become familiar with the work of Spanish-born composer Rodolfo Halffter, whom he felt to be doing a magnificent job at the national conservatory. This visit to Mexico made Plaza feel optimistic. “My projects of Latin American musical rapprochement have been re-energized here,” he told a reporter. “New conversations with Sandi have renewed the hopes we had while in the United States. I believe we will obtain official assistance for our work in the respective countries.”6 On June 22 he returned to Caracas with his wife, who had joined him in New York. During the new academic year he tried out some of the educational methods he had learned about during his trip.7 The Educator, Part 3 / 225 [54.226.126.38] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 18:16 GMT) Directorate of Culture in the Ministry of National Education, 1944–1946 Two years later, Plaza influenced Venezuelan music education in a much more dramatic fashion. In October 1944 he was appointed director of culture in the Ministry of National Education. As such he headed the Office...