Esmeralda Jiménez Olmos

Choir master

Esmeralda Jimenez Olmos joined the I Have a Voice team as Choir Director of  “Hogar Para Niños Morelia” in September of 2022.

Thanks to the Elizabeth Espejel our National Director of Mexico, we connected with the extremely talented and passionate founder of Coro de Mujeres Libres de Morelia (Choir of Free Women of Morelia). Esmeralda first learned of our program in 2019, and followed the joint efforts, presentations and achievements closely, as several friends of hers and fellow choir directors collaborated with IHAVOC throughout that time. 

“Now I feel honoured and excited to have joined the leadership of a group”

When asked about what “I Have a Voice” means to her she said it’s much more than than the literal sense and encompasses many other meanings. 

“With the voice we not only speak, with the voice we pray, we communicate, we comfort and we thank. Having a voice and using it, raising it in protest or tenderly silencing it, makes us responsible for the message that the listener will receive. Our voice carries a message of truth in the expression of our feelings; sharing it wisely, being a voice with others, speaking or singing frees us from the pain that afflicts our hearts.”

Esmeralda believes that sharing choral singing with the children in her beautiful Morelia is part of her mission as a person and as a musician. Furthermore, she loves contributing to the musical and human development of the members of the choirs. Being an integral part of creating childhood memories through teamwork, solidarity, a sense of belonging and above all, the love for choral music.

We are inspired by her passion to continually improve her practice and seek for better outcomes for her students.

“The success of my participation could be measured in simple gestures, such as the spontaneous hug of a child who is happy to see me arrive at the choir rehearsal room; I also find it when listening to the unified and in-tune sound of the group of children singing in unison. Another moment of great success is when the voices and ears of the little singers are ready to begin the work of vocal independence, in which the choir can sing in two or three voices. Likewise, realising  the group has internalised and assimilated the appropriate behavior in rehearsal or during a presentation, when the children follow the teacher’s direction, maintain their attention at the moment of musical interpretation these are holy moments!”

Her main motivation is seeing happy and confident children that have developed musically and artistically. 

“I would like to see these future adults seeking harmony in their relationships with their peers, promoting peace; I would like some of them to become musicians and find a way of life in this art.”

The team at I Have a Voice is extremely grateful to have Esmeralda join our talented team of Choir Masters in Mexico. Find out more about the choirs she leads here.