The evolution of University of the Visayas Chorale

CEBU, Philippines - Homogeneous. That was the shared impression among industry insiders and the audience who witnessed the University of the Visayas Chorale’s (UVC) current crop in competition.

Anna Abeleda-Piquero, UVC’s conductor/trainer since 2006, echoes the observation, crediting the multi-awarded choir’s new sound to its members’ higher degree of collaboration.

“They work more as a team than ever before. Most, if not all, have very beautiful classical voices,” Piquero says of the choir’s 35 members.

“Each UVC batch has its own beautiful sound,” she adds. “But I think the key here is the degree to which they are willing to work together, forgoing the seniority complex, thus, creating more homogeneity.”

UVC was founded in 1999 by UV executive vice president Dr. Jose R. Gullas as an offshoot to the UV Boys Choir, and to grant scholarships for musically talented high school and college students.

In 2006, Piquero, a former Madrigal singer, was recruited to whip the choir into shape. That same year, Dr. Gullas’ wife Nena came in as UVC’s manager, complementing Piquero’s iron-fist approach with her hands-on, motherly supervision.

The next year, the choir successfully competed in its first international tilt, winning silver and bronze medals and getting ranked as “Internationally Very Good” at the prestigious Busan Choral Festival and Competition. UVC also holds the distinction of being the only Filipino choir to perform during the World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia in 2008.

The group is a CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines) National Choral Competition Gold awardee, a champion in the MBC National Choral Competition in 2009 and 2011 and second prize in 2010 in the same contest. They also competed and won three gold prizes in Rimini, Italy and one bronze trophy in Tolosa, Spain.

In 2012, UVC brought further pride to its university by participating in the Triduum during the canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod in Rome, Italy.

And just this July, UVC once again proved it can go toe-to-toe against international counterparts when it joined the 2nd Andrea O. Veneracion International Competition held at CCP in Manila. The tilt is a festival in honor of Veneracion, the late national artist for musicians, esteemed choirmaster, a choral clinician who was instrumental in the promotion of choral music in the Philippines, and founder of the Philippine Madrigal Singers – the only Filipino choir who won the European Grand Prix twice.

UVC was declared champion in the Folk Song category, with second and third place going to another Filipino choir named Koro Ilustrado and the Indonesian choir called Archipelago Singers, respectively. Cebu’s pride hypnotized judges with their stylized renditions of the Thai folk song “Lao Kratob Mai,” the Canadian folk song “Nootka Paddle,” and Cebuano folk ditty “Si Pilemon.”

They were also not to be sneezed at in the Chamber Choir category, finishing second place for their performance of “Viderunt Omnes Fines Terrae” by Mikolaj Zielenski, “Ungewisses Licht” by Robert Schumman, “Nox Aurumqe” by Eric Whitacre and “Ang Tren” by Saunder Choi. Chamber Choir champions were the Archipelago Singers of Indonesia, while the UP Los Baños Chorale landed third.

Sizing up the Andrea O. Veneracion International Competition participants were jurors from Europe, America and Asia.

Piquero shares that UVC was one of the most applauded choirs, with colleagues heaping praise at their new sound and choreography.

Resting a bit after their triumph in Manila, UVC returned to rehearsals a few weeks after for “Ugnayan sa Sining,” a community performance and exchange tour organized by CCP in partnership with UV, Iloilo National High School and the Silay City Government. Held at the UV Main Campus gymnasium, the event saw UVC performing side by side with cultural troupes Dagyaw Baile of Iloilo and the Kabataang Silay Rondalla Ensemble of Silay City.

In a brief speech before the performances, Dr. Gullas reiterated his call for fellow Cebuanos to love their own, and contribute in the propagation of Cebuano culture.

“At the end of the day, you can call me baduy or bakya, I won’t mind. I like to look back on our culture and values. That’s my passion,” says Dr. Gullas of his insistence that UVC, along with the Halad Museum he founded, be instruments in promoting and letting people appreciate the beautiful Cebuano music of our ancestors.

Passion too, has been the motivating force behind Nena Gullas persevering to see UVC through, even when she herself admits that “maintaining a choir is not easy.” As a manager, and de facto second mom to UVC members, she takes charge of the students’ personality development, social graces, grooming, among many other needs. On top of that, she makes certain academics don’t take a backseat amidst the grueling demands of being a UVC member.

Piquero, for her part, says that her foremost challenge in training a Cebu-based choir such as UVC is diction.

“The nature of Cebuano language is its being one of the hardest or the most crisp sounding Bisaya,” she explains. “Hence, I have a difficult time bending the ‘I’ to ‘E’ or the ‘E’ to ‘I.’ ‘U and ‘O’ are easier to change. We have to go through a lot of workshops for our Latin and German songs.”

“Also, since I am a Manila-based conductor, it becomes a challenge for me to find ways for them to remember all the musical aspects of the songs. We only get to rehearse three to four days a month. The rest of the rehearsals, they are left on their own to remind themselves of all the corrections, be it notes, interpretation, dynamics and vocal placement.”

Piquero also says that UVC’s performances may come off effortless, and the travel perks may seem all fun, yet it takes discipline, sacrifice, and lots of work behind the scenes.

“They take voice lessons and have recitals. Every single one of them is required to read notes – which is unfortunate for those who think that being in a choir is for fun or barkada. Yes, it is fun, but it is a very big responsibility. That is, the responsibility to respect the composer for creating the music that we sing.”

“We have to give justice to their work of art to respect the audience, for they took the time to listen to us and be inspired. We cannot give them a mediocre performance. To respect God for entrusting you with that talent. We cannot bury the talent and not let it multiply. To respect yourself, because God didn’t create you to become a mediocre being,” Piquero says of a choir member’s huge task.

Of UVC’s tried and tested crowd-pleasers, Piquero says it differs from region to region. “In competitions, the most applauded would be a beautiful contemporary composition or arrangement that has never been heard before. In the case of our most recent competition, they loved ‘Pilemon,’ as it was a new arrangement of a popular song. In Cebu, they love our new arrangements of popular Visayan folk songs like ‘Pilemon’ and Bisrock like ‘Balay ni Mayang’ and ‘Dili Tanan.’ In Manila and other Philippine cities, they also love new arrangements and interpretations of well-loved Visayan songs like ‘Pilemon’; then they love arrangements of pop songs such as our own arrangement of the ‘Frozen’ medley, ‘La Bamba,’ ‘Boogie Wonderland,’ ‘I’m Yours,’ ‘All the Single Ladies,’ etc.”

The conductress also notes UVC’s social skills, an aspect she says is important for performers to nurture.

“They are famous for being sweet and sociable in all places we have been hosted,” says Piquero. “Sometimes, character, you cannot change. But their music, yes I can, as long as the eagerness and willingness are there.”

When moments get tough and stressful, Piquero urges her UVC kids to focus on the music. “I remind them that what we are doing is a privilege given by God, and this privilege is bigger than them. He gave us the power to inspire people. Each of us have our personal problems, but I remind them that God would not give them that talent if He just wanted them to throw it away on the first sign of difficulty. I also teach them the value of the ‘moment.’ Each moment is there for us to enjoy, even if it is a difficult moment. There is always a purpose…even if we don’t see it yet.”

What’s next for the evolving UVC? Piquero says they are eyeing once more to spread their music in Europe next year, representing Cebu and the Philippines in various festivals and competitions. They are also aiming to book a lot of concerts abroad, and hopefully afford to go to as many countries as possible so that they can spread the beauty of Visayan culture.

“That is the main interest when a choir steps and sings on foreign soil,” says Piquero. “Audiences wish to hear where that choir is from thru their music. What better way to promote Cebu?” – VAB