Singing Competitively with the UE Chorale

• admin
• Nov 9,2007 | 501 Readers
• In: Singers

And I get another tip from TV Patrol, this time a local university choir winning another International Singing competition.  I tried visiting their website but it’s down for the moment (probably experiencing heavy traffic from being featured on TV, hehe).  I made a quick search on Youtube, and sure enough, they’ve got some great videos I would like to share here.

Tong Tong Pakitong Kitong 

  

Crucifixus on AILM Concert Series

From their wiki page, I got this listing of their awards:

2006 

Grand Prix 2006 Busan International Choral Competition Busan, South Korea

Gold Prize - Pop Category 2006 Busan International Choral Competition Busan, South Korea

Silver Prize - Classical Category 2006 Busan International Choral Competition Busan, South Korea

Grand Prize Himig ng Kabataan Alay Kay Don Bosco St. John Bosco Parish, Makati City

2004

Grand Prize - Pop Jazz Category 43rd International Chorale Competition “C.A. Seghizzi” Gorizia, Italy

2003

Grand Prize Himig ng Koro II Manila, Philippines

Most Outstanding Chorale Group of 2003 Consumer’s Choice Award Manila, Philippines

Publikumspreis 40th International Chorwettweberb International Choir Competition Spittal Ander Drau, Spittal Austria

Over-All 2nd Place - Polyphonic Category 40th International Chorwettweberb International Choir Competition Spittal Ander Drau, Spittal Austria

4th Place - Folksong Category 40th International Chorwettweberb International Choir Competition Spittal Ander Drau, Spittal Austria

Over-all 2nd Place - Polyphonic Category 51st Concurso Polifonico Internazionale Arezzo, Italy

1st Prize - Competizione Straordinaria 51st Concurso Polifonico Internazionale Arezzo, Italy

1999

1st Place - Regional Finals 28th National Music for Young Artists (NAMCYA) Manila, Philippines

Honorable Mention - National Finals 28th National Music for Young Artists (NAMCYA) Manila, Philippines

Their last win escaped me in the report, but I’ll try to update this post as soon as I have a page for it. 

<excerpt from wiki>

History

The chorale was founded in June 1992 as the UE Glee Club. Since June 1999, the UE Chorale has trained under their conductor, Ms. Anna Tabita V. Abeleda, a member of the Philippine Madrigal Singers. She instilled in them discipline, sense of commitment and love for their work, gearing towards musical excellence for world-class performances. After only six months of rigorous training, the UE Chorale won 2nd Place in the 1st Concurso Coral de Ateneo (1999), 1st Place in the 28th National Music Competition for Young Artist (NAMCYA) in Regional Finals and honorable mention in the Nationals.

In June 2003, the group fulfilled its vision of becoming an ambassador of goodwill through concerts and participation in international festivals with a three-month long European Tour visiting the cities of Germany, Austria and Italy. There were several highlights in this First European Tour with the UE Chorale making its mark as one of the best Choirs in the world by qualifying and winning in two of the most prominent competitions in Europe. In the prestigious 40th International Chorwettbewerb in Spittal, Austria, the University of the East Chorale is the overall Second Place winner in the polyphonic art song category of the INTERNATIONAL CHOIRS’ COMPETITION besting nine other countries - Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Russia, Sweden, United States of America and Austria. A group with its own individual charm and appeal, the UEC won the coveted Publikumspreis when it was voted by the public as the best choir in the competition. Being the crowd favorite, the group was the only choir invited to the Office of the Mayor in Spittal an der Drau for a courtesy call.

Joining the ranks of internationally-acclaimed Filipino choirs, the UE Chorale competed in the prestigious 51st Guido d’ Arezzo Concurso Polifonico in Arezzo, Italy where they won First Prize in the Competizione Straordinaria category, First Prize in the Nino Antonelli Special Prize category for its rendering of contemporary compositions joined by other eighteen participants from all over the world, and won Second Prize in the Polyphonic Category. By winning in several categories, the group became one of the only two choirs that qualified to vie for the Citta di Arezzo grand prize.

Locally, the University of the East Chorale was chosen as the Consumer’s Choice Awardee for the Most Outstanding Chorale Group of 2003 and the Grand Prize Winner in 2003 Himig ng Koro Chorale Competition.

For June to august of 2004, the University of the East Chorale again embarked on its Second European Tour visiting the countries of Italy and France. The group competed in an International Choral Competition in Gorizia, Italy and won First Prize in one of the categories and won the most coveted Publikumspreis Award.

In November 2005, the group was invited to perform in different cities in Korea, joined choral festivals and performed in a series of concerts together with National Artist for Music and Founder of Philippine Madrigal Singers, Professor Andrea O. Veneracion.

With these recent accomplishments, the University of the East Chorale is blazing a trail of its own, adding awards and accolades to its achievements and proving their mettle in the national and now, in the international choral arena.

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