Outstanding Cebuanos feted
The JRG Halad (offering)†is an annual event hosted by University of Visayas (UV) patriarch Jose “Dodong†R. Gullas. The event recognizes outstanding Cebuanos for their unique and special contribution to the Cebu community.
This year’s “Halad 2012†celebration, appropriately dubbed “Gratis et Amore,†was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel last Dec. 2. The occasion was particularly special for the choice of awardees, as well as for the performers of the evening.
Recipients of the award for this year were three distinguished individuals: Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, whose untiring efforts towards the canonization of Pedro Calungsod produced the first Cebuano Saint; Monsignor Rudy Villanueva, brilliant composer, musical genius and prolific writer; and Susan Fuentes, renowned and popular chanteuse, whose golden voice has touched Cebuanos through the decades of the ’80s and ’90s.
Making the occasion distinctively special was the choice of the UV Chorale to perform for the awardees and the guests for the evening. The chorale just recently returned from their performances on the third day of the Triduum Masses during the canonization ceremonies of St. Calungsod in Rome. They were also requested to perform for the cardinals and bishops during one of the special luncheons for church dignitaries.
Significantly, it was the host, JR Gullas, who sponsored the trip of the entire 32-voice chorale. A brainchild of Dodong’s mother, Inday Pining, the UV Chorale started in 1999 as the UV Boys’ Choir. It is composed solely of students from UV, and through the years, under the tutelage of musical director Anna Tabitha Piquera, the chorale has garnered awards and prizes from many competitions. It now joins the ranks of excellent Filipino choral groups such as the UP Madrigal Singers and the UP Singing Ambassadors.
UVC received three gold diplomas for Sacred, Folk and Mixed categories in the Rimini International Choral Competition in Rimini, Italy, and brought home silver and bronze medals in the 2007 Busan Choral Festival in their first exposure abroad. They then garnered gold champion awards in all categories that they joined at the Tomohon International Choir Competition in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Most recently, UVC won Third Prize in the Folklore Category of the 2012 Tolosa International Choir Competition in Tolosa, Spain.
“Halad 2012†will long be remembered as a magnificent night of recognition and thanksgiving to those special people who, through their selfless service and the grace and love of God, have contributed auspiciously to the Cebu community.
