The
University of the Philippines Madrigal Singers was organized in 1963 by
National Artist Professor Andrea O. Veneracion. The group is composed
of students, faculty and alumni from the different colleges of the
University of the Philippines (UP). The choir is one of the world’s most
awarded, having consistently won all the top prizes in most of the
world’s prestigious choral competitions: Arezzo and Gorizia in Italy,
Marktoberdorf in Germany, Spittal in Austria, Neuchatel in Switzerland,
Tours in France, Varna in Bulgaria, Debrecen in Hungary, Cantonigros,
Tolosa and Torrevieja in Spain. They hold the distinction of being the
first choir in the world to win the European Grand Prix for Choral
Singing twice (1997 and 2007).
The ensemble performs a wide repertoire of various styles and forms:
renaissance music, classical music, Filipino and international
folksongs, contemporary and avant-garde music, opera and even popular
music. Their specialization and focus on the madrigal idiom has inspired
their unique set-up of singing while seated in a semi-circle, without a
conductor.
The influence of the UP Madrigal Singers on the Philippine and Asian
choral scene has also been far-reaching. Since 1963, more than 200
singers have joined the choir, many of whom are now choral and vocal
pedagogues actively involved in organizing and conducting choirs. This
eventually led to the organization of the Madz Et Al, a network of
choirs who gather regularly for festivals and workshops. To date, the
network has a membership of almost 60 choirs from all over the country.
This contributes to the now very active choral life in the Philippines.
Through the direction of Mark Anthony Carpio, the corps of composers
and choral arrangers of the UP Madrigal Singers continue to produce new
compositions and choral settings of Philippine, Asian and international
songs, thus contributing to the growth of world choral literature.
More recently, the group was honored by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as Artists
for Peace (July 2009) for putting their fame and influence at the
service of UNESCO’s ideals and efforts to promote cultural diversity,
intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace. Similarly, the group has
been honored with the Guidoneum Award (September 2010) by the Concorso
Polifonico Guido d’ Arezzo Foundation “for the artistic and choral
promotion activity that they carried out after they won the European
Grand Prix for Choral Singing in 2007, thus are grateful for all that
the Philippine Madrigal Singers have done for the choral world.”
The UP Madrigal Singers also maintain an active outreach and concert
tour schedule, performing in far-flung areas of the Philippines seldom
reached by choral artists. With an average of two overseas concert tours
a year, the UP Madrigal Singers is the country’s most active
ambassadors of goodwill and perhaps, also one of the world’s
most-traveled choirs. In August 2011, the group was one of the featured
choirs in the 9th World Symposium on Choral Music held in Puerto Madryn,
Argentina. They then proceeded to do several goodwill concerts in other
parts of the country and also in Paraguay and Uruguay.
No comments:
Post a Comment