Ateneo choirs to stage free thanksgiving concert
Ateneo’s singing groups will treat the community to an evening of sacred, liturgical, and inspirational music through the “Take and Receive: The First Festival of Ateneo Music” concert on Dec. 7, 6:30 p.m., at the Church of the Gesù, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights Campus.
The concert gathers Ateneo’s home-grown and award-winning groups, the Ateneo Boys Choir, Ateneo High School Glee Club, Dulaang Sibol, Ateneo College Glee Club, and Ateneo Chamber Singers. They will perform with the Jesuit Music Ministry artists, Blue Symphony, Bukas Palad, Himig Heswita and Musica Chiesa. Distinguished Filipino musician and composer Ryan Cayabyab’s medley arrangement of the different Take and Receive compositions by the Filipino Jesuits will be one of the highlights of the concert.
Fans and supporters of these Ateneo singing groups can expect to be regaled by the songs that have made these groups both distinct and popular, resonating Ateneo’s fine musical legacy and the unique spirituality that inspires its music.
Dulaang Sibol is the Ateneo High School theater club founded and directed by Onofre Pagsanghan. Bukas Palad, meanwhile, was co-founded by Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ 20 years ago. The Ateneo College Glee Club, the oldest university chorale in the country and winner in the 2006 Miltenberg (Germany) Choral Competition and Ateneo Chamber Singers, winner in the 2006 Tolosa (Spain) Choral Contest, will showcase their world-class talent in polyphony and classical music.
Another highlight of the concert is a tribute by the Jesuit Music Ministry artists to Fr. Eddie Hontiveros, SJ, or “Fr. Honti,” the acknowledged Father of Philippine Liturgical Music, who passed away in January 2008. The Mass hymns that Fr. Honti composed in the 1970s, after the Second Vatican Council called for inculturation of the liturgy, continue to be sung in every parish to this day, an enduring testament to the intimacy of his music with the heart of the Filipino and the message of Jesus Christ.
“Take and Receive: The First Festival of Ateneo Music” marks the Ateneo’s 149th anniversary, the year of “Deepening Spirituality,” the second theme of a three-year countdown to Ateneo’s 150th anniversary, or sesquicentennial. Ateneo de Manila University will celebrate its sesquicentennial on Dec. 10 with the theme “Building the Nation.”
For information, call Ateneo’s Office of University Development and Alumni Relations (OUDAR) at 426-6081 to 82, or e-mail 150@ateneo.edu.
