Building local identity as a source and determinant of amateur choral movement on the example of the “Arion” choir from Czyżkówko in Bydgoszcz

Abstract

Founded in 1924, “Kółko Śpiewacze Czyżkówko” became in the 1950s and 1960s one of the most important choirs in Bydgoszcz, which achieved a high level of performance cooperating with the Pomeranian Philharmonic in Bydgoszcz. The source of this success, illustrating the phenomenon of the amateur choral movement in Bydgoszcz, was the sense of local identity of the inhabitants of one of the poorer districts of interwar Bydgoszcz. Determination, commitment, striving to create bonds through a common taste for art and music were the driving force behind the artistic activities and the determinant of the functioning of this group. Building the identity of a small, local community turned into a community acting for the broadly understood, supra-regional, musical culture. The weakening of bonds and the sense of common ideas became one of the reasons for the band’s collapse after almost 75 years of activity.