PH youth choir wins in Busan festival
The Sing Philippines Youth Choir (SPYC) tour group won at the recent Busan Choral Festival and Competition (BCFC) in Busan, South Korea. Led by artistic director and conductor Mark Anthony Carpio, the SPYC tour group bagged the second prize and gold diploma for the Classical Mixed and Equal Category and Gold Diploma in the Ethnic Category.
Organized by the Philippine Madrigal Singers, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) through its Cultural Exchange Department and the Andrea O. Veneracion Sing Philippines Foundation (AOVSPF), the SPYC was launched in 2014.
Composed of 34 singers from all over the country, the SPYC performed the following pieces: “Fest- und Gedenksprüche, Op.109: II. Wenn ein starker Gewappneter” (Johannes Brahms); “Draw on, Sweet Night” (John Wilbye); and “Jubilate Deo” (Saunder Choi). For the Ethnic/Traditional category, they performed “Tatlong Awiting Pambata: I. Ang Alibangbang” (by Saunder Choi), “Dandansoy” (arranged by Fidel Calalang) and “Three Kalinga Chants” (by Nilo Alcala II).
Along with other participating choirs, the SPYC performed in a special outreach concert at the Busan Station on Oct. 22 where they sang “Sing Philippines Sing” composed by Ily Mathew Maniano with lyrics by Joey Vargas.
Maniano bagged the first place in the composition competition of the BCFC for his piece entitled “Amihan.” There were four other Philippine choral groups that joined the BCFC and won awards as well: Villanueva Chorale of Misamis Oriental, Imusikapella of Cavite, Balanga Choral Artists and Bataan Peninsula State University Chorale. Other foreign competitors were groups from South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore.
The group was supported by the CCP Office of the President, the CCP Cultural Exchange Department and the AOVSPF.