RP's UST Singers to conduct Europe concert tour

MANILA, Philippines - The University of Santo Tomas Singers (UST Singers) will conduct their 13th International Concert Tour dubbed as "Festival Europe" in August. A statement on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website said multi-awarded composer and conductor Fidel Calalang Jr. will lead the group. Calalang and UST Singers will represent the Philippines in four international choral festivals in September in Spain, and October in France. Recently, Calalang was a member in the international jury of the 20th International Festival of Academic Choirs Competition (IFAS) in Pardubice, Czech Republic last July 1 to 8. The competition, organized every two years, was the largest gathering of outstanding university and academic choirs from all over the world. Other members of the jury were from Czech Republic, Russia, Slovakia, Poland and USA. Calalang chairs the UST Conservatory of Music Conducting Department, where he is also a professor in Piano. He is the founder and conductor of the internationally acclaimed UST Singers that won 45 top prizes from choral competitions around the world. These include the 1995 Choir of the World Grand Prize in the United Kingdom, 1998 Gran Premio Citta di Gorizia in Italy and the historic 1st Prizes with five 100 per cent scores in all categories at the 2002 Festa Musicale in Olomouc, Czech Republic. Awarded Most Outstanding Alumnus of the UST for Performing Arts, Calalang has been a member of the 1st National Choral Competition for Welsh Choirs in the United Kingdom in 2003. He has also won the Best Conductor Prize at the 2002 Tonen International Choral Competition in the Netherlands and the 1st Prize at the International Composers Competition in Ojai, California USA in 1999. Recently, Calalang has been named in the Marquis' "Who's Who in the World 2009," to be published in the United States in November 2008. - GMANews.TV