This writer remembers distinctly the first Philippine Madrigal Singers concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in 1983 during the group’s 20th anniversary. According to official chronicles of the Madz, the idea was conceptualized as early as 1981, a year of great triumph for the group in the European choral scene.
It was the idea of Madz founder, National Artist for Music Andrea Ofilada Veneración, to bring together concert choirs trained by former and present members of the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers.
Without being greatly articulate and explicit, Veneración indeed has founded and developed a school of thought in choral conducting which has not only changed the Philippine musical scene but has also been influential abroad. She has established herself as one of the world’s foremost choral conductors and the Madz as one of the globe’s most formidable choral groups.
The idea has since evolved to include choirs who have undergone choral clinics with Veneración and her disciples or who have participated in choral activities organized by the Madz. It was her idea that the world-renowned ensemble and these local choirs would form one big (and happy) singing family.
Much can be said about Veneración’s choral school of thought now still being nurtured and continued by the present batch of Madrigal Singers under her anointed successor, Mark Anthony Carpio, doubtless the country’s leading choral conductor today.
Veneración dreamt of choirs, connected through television feed, in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, singing together, under one conductor. This was her vision of the Philippine nation: being one in something we do best with the best of the world, which is singing together — since given our peculiar physiology and anatomy we cannot stand out in the world arena as vocal soloists or opera singers.
The recent concert at the Philamlife Theater marked the end of this year’s series of Madrigal et al concerts and the launching of the Andrea O. Veneración Sing Philippines Foundation. The show proved to be a delightful revelation, especially for two choirs, namely: the University of the Philippines Los Baños Ensemble and the San Sebastián Recoletos Parish Choir, who not only rendered Madz classics with conviction such as Federizon’s Gabaqan and brought the house down with a superb rendition of an arrangement of Babae Ako, revealing the Filipino penchant for issues touching sexuality in a very light and wholesome vein, choreography included. This last rendition demonstrated how we Filipinos, given our flexibility and openness, are creative in making a classical madrigal idiom accessible to the now generation. That night, this writer threw to the wind his critical observations and decided to focus on what really mattered: these young choirs are carving a niche of their own and their positive efforts need a positive response from critics and audiences alike. The crescendos that night could only augur the growing confidence of these young choirs, full of enthusiasm, still vacillating in musicality and note attacks, yet projecting bundles of hope and idealism.
Needless to say, the star of the evening was the Philippine Madrigal Singers, now in their 44th year, whose tone has definitely changed ever since Carpio took over in 2001. Their tonal colors are softer, more pastel and gentler; quite distinct from Veneración’s strong and potent tones. Yet they are feisty, humorous, and warm as ever, especially with Piquero’s crafty arrangement of the Cebuano folksong about a feisty crab: Tong Tong Tong Pakitongkitong. At the beginning, following the tradition set by Veneracion, the tutti choir addressed their first words to God with Feliciano’s Ama Namin and San Pedro’s Sanctus from his Misa ng Santo Niño.
The concert ended with Granada’s Tagumpay Nating Lahat, a fitting call for the nation, divided and politicized, to sing together though accompanied by a tedious and prejudiced historical narrative shifting in delivery styles from balagtasan to 1980s rap and with a tawdry visual production.
Carpio gave a lesson on pedagogy: that the most touching moment in learning is when the torch is passed to keep the tradition going. True. But for this writer what is more touching is to see that the student is already standing on his own. Carpio, especially with his hardworking and unassuming ways, would have made the maestra, herself an unassuming hard worker, proud that night. This writer, part of the family delegation that attended the concert on behalf of the indisposed maestra, can assure him that.
Veneración always believed that an artist could be outstanding or excellent but could not be National Artist if he did not return the blessings he gave to his homeland. Veneración, especially with the Madz concerts and her choral clinics in far-flung regions of the country, fulfilled this notion twice over. Her dream of 7,100 islands singing together, and other projects such as the building of a choral center to house archival materials, serve as venue for performance and training of choirs according to her choral philosophy, are her most enduring legacies as teacher and artist.
An artist is, first and foremost, a performer. Yet is forever a student. A National Artist is first and foremost a teacher because he is a perennial student of his craft. Carpio, together with the Madz et al, are the new teachers of the Filipino choirs of the new generation. Kudos to them and may this new foundation earn the support of Filipinos in love with their cultural heritage.