An awe-inspiring experience
When it started my watch said
Then suddenly it was over. More, more, your heart cried out. From fantasy to reality was a harsh awakening. But then you realized that such is life. There are joyous moments like the first kiss of a loved one. Like the fleeting moment of an awakening day. Like the first cry of your firstborn. These are joyous moments you treasure in your heart, moments which, recalled later in times of adversity, bring a spark of hope in the heart.
These were the joyous moments I felt while watching the UV Chorale perform during its thanksgiving concert last Tuesday evening at the CAP auditorium.
Actually, I know little of music. In the grades we were taught to read notes and sing school songs in these notes. But we never got to the point of deciphering how a song was sung given only its notations. We were however taught how to appreciate music. Every Friday afternoon, our principal (Mr. Pedro Avila, bless his soul!) at San Nicolas elementary school here in this city would gather us older kids together for a singing session. Scouts songs, classical songs, native songs we sang.
Appreciation of music seems to be innate in people, at least those with normal sense of hearing. Whether one is trained in music or not his capacity to enjoy music seems to be a built-in mechanism. This is also true of one’s ability to distinguish good music from bad ones, as well as his capacity to sing a fairly acceptable tune. Given proper training, one’s voice can be “cultured”, as they say it, such that off-key tunes are avoided and pleasant ones articulated.
This explains why a choir presentation such as that of the UV Chorale always stirs its listeners, whether lay or professional, into ecstatic fits of appreciation. And when such presentation is acclaimed “internationally very good,” in the words of the Busan (
And yet failure haunted the group right into the last minutes in the Busan contest. Neophytes all in inter-country competitions, the Chorale could not help but feel apprehensive of getting edged out by the more experienced singers from
Music – why is the UV so committed in creating masters of this performing art? The question seems superfluous because art appreciation and promotion is an inherent thrust of every educational institution. If education is bringing out the best and beautiful in individuals, then cultivation of artistic impulses has therefore an important role in the educative process.
He who has no music in himself is fit for treason, stratagem and spoil, warns the Bard of Avon.
This considered, the Chorale’s mission therefore is not only to entertain but also to transform the hearts and minds of those who open themselves to savor its renditions.
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