Loboc Children’s Choir to serenade Japan emperor, empress

MANILA, Philippines - Visiting Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan will be serenaded by the world-famous Loboc Children’s Choir during the state dinner in their honor to be held at Malacañang tonight.

At a press conference at the Jin Jiang Inn in Makati yesterday, the 22 choir members expressed their excitement over their performance before the royal couple.

Marjorie Mandin, 14, a veteran choir member and a Grade 9 student at the Holy Trinity Academy in Loay, Bohol, said they will do their best to bring honor to the country.

Marjorie will be joining seven boys and 14 other girls in serenading the Japanese royal couple with a repertoire of Filipino, kundiman, jazz and Broadway songs such as “Light of a Million Mornings,” “Colors of the Wind,” “Nella Fantazia” and “Larong Pinoy.” 

In addition, the choir will also sing “Hotaro Koi” (Ho Firefly) which, according to choir musical director Alma Fernando-Taldo, is a popular children’s song in Japan.

“The previous choir batch have sung this song in 1995. We even visited a Japanese executive in Cebu City and asked him to teach us how to properly sing it with the correct pronunciation,” she said.

According to Taldo, the songs that will be sung by the choir during the state dinner were selected by Malacañang.

Malacañang earlier underscored the visit of Japan’s emperor and empress, saying the visit marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Japan, following the end of the Second World War.

For his part, businessman Carlos Chan, chairman of the Liwayway Group of Companies and patron of the choir, said the performance before the Japanese royal couple would showcase Filipino artistry and talent.

Composed mainly of Grade 6 to 9 students of both private and public schools in Loboc, the choir has made a name in international choral competitions and has performed for various dignitaries, including Spain’s Queen Sofia in 2002.

The choir was founded in 1980 and is composed of students aged between of 11 to 16. Members leave the choir on their 16th birthday.

The choir bagged the grand prize at the 6th International Folk Songs Festival in Spain in 2003. It won second place in the youth choir category at the 12th China International Chorus Festival held in Beijing in 2014.

The Loboc Children’s Choir also attracted attention when they sang at the ruins of the Loboc Church following the killer quake that hit the province of Bohol in October 2013.

Last year, the choir toured Australia and New Zealand to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the earthquake-ravaged churches of Bohol.