UST Singers bag Pavarotti grand prize

LONDON - The University of Sto. Tomas Singers bagged the Choir of the World-Luciano Pavarotti Grand Prize at the 2010 Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, in Wales, the oldest and most prestigious choir competition in the world.

The group has earned many awards internationally but the newest title is very special for the group.  It won the same award in 1995, making it the first and only Filipino and Asian choir to win the celebrated award twice.

The Choir of the World competition (COTW), the highlight of the festival, is exclusive for the first prize winners of five major choir categories: Mixed Choir, Chamber Choir, All-Male Choir, All-Female Choir and Barbershop/Close Harmony Choir. 

The UST Singers won the top prize in the Mixed Choir Category, which qualified the group for the COTW competition.

In the COTW competition, the UST Singers triumphed over four champion choirs:  the Cywair Choir of Wales, winner of the Chamber Choir category and also a Choir of the World winner in 2005; the White Rossettes Choir of England,  winner of Barbershop/Close Harmony Choir; Cantabile Choir of Limburg, Germany , winner of the All-Male Choir Category, and the Chanterelles Choir of England,  the winner of All-Female choir.

The COTW trophy is named after the great tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who started his career as a singer at the same Llangollen International Musical Eistedfodd  stage in 1955 when he was a choirboy in an All-Male Choir in Modena, Italy. His choir emerged as the All-Male Choir Champion in the same competition in 1955. The Pavarotti name was added to the COTW title in 2005.

The University of Santo Tomas Singers was founded in 1992. It is a mixed choral ensemble composed of a select group of students and alumni representing the different colleges and faculties of the oldest university in Asia. 

The group, under the baton of Prof. Fidel Calalang Jr., is completing its European tour before returning to the Philippines.

Meanwhile, another entry from the Philippines, the DLSU Chorale, won second place in the Chamber Choirs category.