Five decades without the Orfeón’s voices, but its song lives on

The Orfeón Universitario was ready to sing in Europe, but its journey began with uncertainty. Members of the Venezuelan choir feared they would not make it to the 12th Festival of Choral Singing in Barcelona, followed by a planned appearance in Paris. Even so, they rehearsed throughout August, including during the holiday season, in case the opportunity survived.

The programme focused almost entirely on Venezuelan music, with works by Antonio Estévez, Vicente Emilio Sojo, Modesta Bor, Antonio Lauro, Juan Bautista Plaza and Inocente Carreño. The choir, founded in 1943 by Estévez, eventually secured a Venezuelan Air Force Hercules C-130, although the aircraft came without a pilot or crew.

Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Aureliano Vásquez Ocanto agreed to fly it on the condition that his wife could travel too. The plane had been used for overseas choir trips before, but this flight required its passengers to improvise. It did not have enough seats, so boards were installed. There were no bathrooms, and buckets and curtains provided privacy.

The trip was financed through contributions from the Federation of University Centres, the National Hippodromes Institute, the National Council of Culture and the air force. Each choir member also paid 500 bolívares toward the fuel. The university itself provided the smallest financial contribution, according to professor Eleazar F. Torres’s book, Orfeón Universitario ’76: “Its voice is still heard.”

Choir director Vinicio Adames rejected an offer to fly separately on a commercial aircraft and chose to travel with his singers. The group’s final performance in Venezuela took place on August 6, 1976. The Hercules later crashed in Portugal’s Azores, ending the European tour and plunging Venezuela into mourning. Fifty years on, the Central University of Venezuela is honouring those who died, while questions remain over the lack of an official accident report.

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Its voice is still heard.