Spectacular! Spectacular!

MANILA, Philippines - The brightest stars of music and dance, Rachelle Gerodias and Ervin Lumauag from the country’s capital and the Mandaue Youth and Children Chorus, the Cebu Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Cebu Dance Company (UCDC) from the Queen City of the South, performed in a concert to celebrate the second anniversary of Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu, the 400-room property of SM Hotels and Convention.

UCDC opened the festivities with an originally choreographed Christmas parol dance. Dressed in metallic blue and silver, the colors of the hotel, performers descended from the grand staircase, holding stars and moving to the beat of holiday music.

In the past few years, UCDC has made mini-tours of Asia, picking up awards along the way. Recently, it wowed over 100,000 travel aficionados at the 2012 Korean World Travel Fair and Expo in Yeosu, South Korea. With a repertoire of Cebuano dances such as the Bonga of Sibonga, Torta of Argao, Sarok of Consolacion and Sinulog of Cebu, the group was hailed as the Best Folkloric Dance Troupe. Similarly, in 2009, it won the Best Folklore Performance Award at the International Travel Fair and Tourism Festival in Busan, South Korea. The dancers have performed for international crowds at the Ha Long Carnival in Quang Ninh, Vietnam, the International Tourism and Cultural Festival in Guanzhou, China and the East Asia Inter Regional Tourism Forum in Gangown, South Korea. 

The spectacular anniversary continued with a 45-minute Christmas concert of classical pieces at the Santa Maria Ballroom. The show featured Rachelle, the premier opera diva of the country, who performed Una Voce Poco Fa from the opera Barber of Seville. She has worked with global giants in music such as the Italian soprano Mirella Freni and conductors Christoph Eschenbach, Piero Gamba and Georg Tintner. The in-demand soprano has played over 20 lead roles in productions in the US, Europe and Asia.

There was also Ervin, who sang Una Fortiva Lagrima from the opera L’Elisir d’Amore. You may remember him as the duet partner of R&B princess Kyla during the anniversary special of GMA Network. The opera-and-pop pair did that fantastic rendition of Because We Believe by Andrea Bocelli and Swedish star Carola.

The Mandaue Youth and Children Chorus, under the baton of choir master Dennis Sugarol, sang A Carol Festival. The multi-awarded group bagged the Jury’s Award, plus two gold medals at an international choral tilt in Hong Kong, but its most memorable performance would have to be the three-day set for the canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod in Rome. A 30-strong company offered songs in Latin, English and Cebuano to the nation’s second and newest saint, whose shrine in Cebu has become a place for prayer and song for the past eight years.

Rounding out the all-star cast, the Cebu Philharmonic Orchestra led by Rye Abilene performed Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major. The young orchestra, which was formed last year by members of the Cebu Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Peace Philharmonic Philippines, the Air Force Symphonic Band and other international musicians, as well, had just performed at the 12th ASEAN Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers Meeting in Cebu.

For the show’s finale, which was produced by Nestor Jardin, past president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and creative director of SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation, and directed by Junjet Primor, the Cebu-based veteran stage director, the star-studded cast came together to deliver a smashing rendition of Mark Hayes’ A Light of Million Mornings.

Earlier, the guests witnessed the formal lighting ceremony of the Radisson Blu Christmas Tree, Cebu’s tallest indoor holiday tree. Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama; Elizabeth Sy, president of SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation; Jose Sio, CFO of SM Investments Corporation; and Lyle Lewis, GM of Radisson Blue Hotel Cebu and VP for Philippines and Japan of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, flicked the giant light switch, illuminating the sky-high, blue-and-white tree in the hotel’s lobby.

No Christmas party would be complete without a banquet. The red-and-gold curtains of the Santa Maria Ballroom parted to reveal a bounty of favorites such as hand-pulled Chinese La Mien noodle soup and various carvings of prime rib, lamb chops, Peking duck and the Cebu lechon.

Sweets were aplenty with fruit mince pies and deep-fried ice cream, among others.

During the moving feast, Renaissance Band, Cebu’s premier live band, performed dance anthems for the crowd.

In between dancing and eating, a raffle of prizes, including a trip to Shanghai for two with roundtrip tickets from Cebu to Shanghai via Manila and a four-night, five-day stay at the Radisson Blu Hotel New World Shangri-La, were given away. The night ended with everyone on their feet, toasting to the second year of Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu.

(Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu is located at Serging Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City. For inquiries, call (32) 402 9900 or visit www.radissonblu.com/hotel-cebu.)