Chorale team-up bags silver in choir competition
A duo between chorale groups of the Philippines and United States institutions won with the Silver Award in the A Capella Category at the recently concluded Second Edition of the online international choir competition Interkultur Video Award 2020.
The duo featured the performance of the Manila-based Coro San Benildo, the internationally acclaimed resident chorale of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, and the award-winning chorale ensemble Azusa Pacific University Chamber Singers of the Azusa Pacific University in California.
The Gold Award for the A Capella Category for choirs was bestowed to Capriccioso from Germany and Gemas Cariocas from Brazil in their performance of Ju Parana.
Hosted by Interkultur, it was initially held in June 2020 at the height of the pandemic. They once again challenged the choirs from all over the globe in an online battle, this time, in partnership with a fellow chorale.
Interkultur is an organization that gathers peoples of all countries, cultures and world views in peaceful competitions, with the statement that “singing together brings nations together.”
The winning four-minute entry virtually gathered 31 vocalists from Coro San Benildo and 29 members from Azusa Pacific University Chamber Singers in an outstanding rendition of Spanish organist Josu Elberdin’s “Izar Ederrak (The Beautiful Star).”
“The song is a story, in the Basque language, of a beautiful shining star surrounded by eight angels, one of whom is ‘lovesick’ for the star. It comes to life with a cappella voices through rich harmonies and a memorable melody,” Avellanada said. “We have chosen this piece for its message in our desire to be a beacon of hope and share the light with everyone.”
“This is the first time that both choirs studied the piece and recorded it from scratch. Since the song is written in a language not common to the two, this performance is truly a product of our commitment to creating music even with the limitations brought about by the pandemic,” he added.
Coro San Benildo, under conductor Lorenzo Gealogo, has participated in choral competitions locally and internationally, where they garnered international distinctions including Folklore Category at the 1st Hoi An International Choral Competition in Vietnam.