Acclamation by the Madrigal Singers

The word acclamation is defined as praise, applause or commendation. How fitting it is then that the Philippine Madrigal Singers have released an album entitled Acclamation at a time when the group is enjoying another noteworthy victory. The Madz guys recently became the toast of the 2006 Florilege Vocal de Tours held in Tours, France when they won the Grand Prix de la Ville de Tours by besting 14 other choirs from all over the world.

That means they gave the most satisfactory over-all performance during the whole contest. They also won first prizes in the Mixed Vocal Ensemble Category and in the Free Program Category, plus the Prix Special Renaissance, a separate category for a purely Renaissance program. May I remind you that the Madz was conceived to perform old Western music, hence the name Madrigals. But the past 40 years have seen the group branch out into the other types of music to put more variety in their program.

Back to the Florilege. This is part of six choral competitions held in various places in Europe, which culminates in the European Prize for Choral Singing contest. The winner of each region will compete in this choral Olympics. Because they won, the Madz will be representing Tours in the big face off which will be held next year in Arezzo, Italy. The other contestants will come from Tolosa, Spain; Gorizia, Italy; Debrecen, Hungary; Varna, Bulgaria and of course, Arezzo.

Take note that the Madz became the first and only Filipino choir to win the Grand Prix at the European Prize for Choral Singing contest. This happened in 1997 during which they represented Tolosa. Will they do the same for Tours and be champions a second time? Let us all hope they do.

However, as far as the album title is concerned, Acclamation has nothing at all to do with the latest honors won by the Madz or any future ones. As the quote in the CD cover says, Sing to the Lord/lift your voices with gladness, sing/and sing songs of praise all our days. Acclamation, the fifth Madz album, is all about singing the praises of the Lord and they do this very well with 14 well-chosen songs. I find it truly commendable that most of the cuts are compositions by Filipino composers from the Jesuit Music Ministry and most are rendered a cappella, a Madz strong point, or with just a guitar in the background. Soft but soaring, just like what a prayer should be.

The songs included in Acclamation are I Will Sing Forever, Let There be Praise, Anima Christi, Panalangin sa Pagiging Bukas Palad, Sa ’yo Lamang, Panunumpa, Awit ng Paghahangad, Sa Iyong Mga Yapak, Lupa, Hindi Kita Malilimutan, One More Gift and The Lord Bless You and Keep You. The foreign songs the Madz chose to do and which I am glad they did are the beautiful inspirationals You Raise Me Up and Light of a Million Mornings.

Kundirana concert & album

The Kundirana recently celebrated its 35th anniversary with a concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines that brought together present and former members. The Kundirana started out as a Christian Ministry boy group of junior and senior high school students of De La Salle Greenhills. The list of "graduates" includes some very famous names and the idea that the Kundirana helped put them on the right track as far as music is concerned made the event truly special.

Some of the singers and musicians who were once part of Kundirana are Gary Valenciano, Louie Ocampo, Ogie Alcasid, Randy Santiago, Rannie Raymundo, Tats Faustino, Mel Villena, Dingdong Avanzado, Carlo Orosa, Archie Castillo, Juan Miguel Salvador, Paolo Bustamante, Dingdong Eduque and Mon Faustino. Tenor Ramon Acoymo, Kundirana founding member, is now the group’s over-all artistic director.

Aside from staging the reunion concert, the La Salle Young Artists Foundation, Inc. also produced the Kundirana 35th Anniversary Commemorative CD. The album is mostly made up of compositions and arrangements by Kundirana members who also perform all of the songs. Some are easily recognizable titles like Louie Ocampo’s You are My Song. There are also school songs like the La Salle Hymn (The Alma Mater Song) and Kundirana Prayer. The others are Ang Kundirana’y Ibang-iba Talaga, Wish I Could, Mahal Na Mahal Kita (I Will Be There for You), Kailangan Kita, Fly Away, Dalawang Pintig, One and a bonus track Lifting is Higher.