By Lily O Ramos
MANILA, Aug. 2 (PNA)– After a few days of delay, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) announced Sunday the winners of the 2nd Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival in different categories.
The Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival was first held in 2013, in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Philippine Madrigal Singers.
The 2015 Festival continues to honor the legacy left by the late National Artist for Music Andrea O. Veneracion who was instrumental in the development and promotion of choral music all over the country.
The Festival was made possible with the cooperation of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Tourism Promotions Board of the Department of Tourism (DOT).
An Indonesian choir from Jakarta The Archipelago Singers led by conductor Ega O. Azarya was handed the first prize in the Chamber Choir Competition category with their rendition of “Wilkin’s See, See the Shepherds Queen,” Brahms’ “Dem Dunkeln Schoss der heiligen Erde,” Yohan’s “Negros Fantasmas and Saunder Choi’s “Ang Tren,” the obligatory piece commissioned by the CCP for the Festival and romped off with US$ 5,000.
The choral work is based on the poem of the same title by Philippine literary giant Jose Corazon de Jesus.
The same choir also won the third Prize in the Folk Song Competition where they premiered Filipino composer Nilo Alcala’s choral composition “Kusinilo si Bao” and US$ 2,500
The Festival’s second prize of the Chamber Choir Competition went to the University of the Visayas (UV) Chorale led by Anna Tabitha Abeleda Piquero and bagged US$ 3,500.
Third prize worth US$ 2,500 went to the University of the Philippines Los Baños(UPLB Chorale conducted by Romel Lomarda.
The winners of the Vocal Ensemble Competition are as follows: first prize: Boscorale, Alvin Paulin, conductor; second prize: University of Baguio(UB) Voices Chorale, Bienvenido Constantino Jr., conductor; and third prize: Philippine Vocal Ensemble, Jose Emmanuel D. Aquino, conductor.
The choirs received cash prizes of US$ 4,000, US$ 2,500 and US$ 1,500 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes, respectively.
In the Folk Song Competition, the first prize went to University of the Visayas (UV) Chorale with Anna Tabitha Abeleda Piquero, conductor; second prize: Koro Ilustrado, Edmund Alan Piquero Jr, conductor; and third prize: The Archipelago Singers, Ega O. Azarya, conductor.
The choirs received cash prizes of US$ 3,000, US$ 2,000 and USD ,000 for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes, respectively.
The jury was composed of Brady Allred from the United States, Jānis Liepiņš from Latvia, Silvana Vallesi from Argentina, Andre van der Merwe from South Africa and Mark Anthony Carpio from the Philippines.
As part of the Festival, a gala concert was performed by the Philippine Madrigal Singers, while the special concert of guest choir Youth Choir “Kamēr” from Latvia conducted Jānis Liepiņš was held on Sunday.
Both choirs were two-time winners of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing. (PNA)