PUP choir gets award at Malaysian choral fest

MANILA, Philippines — A high school choir brought honor to the Philippines after getting an award at a recently concluded international choral festival in Malaysia. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Laboratory High School (PUPLHS) Chorale won two silver certificates at the event. Dubbed “A Voyage of Songs," the festival was held in Penang, Malaysia, last July 4 to 8. “The PUPLHS Choral won silver certificates each in Category D (Chamber Choir) with their pieces ‘Ambo Hato,’ ‘Follow the Sun,’ and ‘Irreplaceable,’ and in Category F (Folklore) with their pieces ‘Rosas Pandan’ and ‘Mamayog Akun,’“ the DFA said in an article posted on its website (www.dfa.gov.ph). Conductor Jonathan Jarin said this was the first time the PUPLHS Chorale participated in an international competition. Accompanying the 22-member PUPLHS Chorale on its trip to Malaysia was PUPLHS Principal Prof. Corazon Tahil and the PUPLHS registrar. Meanwhile, another competing team from the Philippines, the Church-based choir TZ5, won a gold certificate in Category F with their pieces of two Ilocano folksongs and “Bomala ka ay Buwan" and another silver certificate in Category D with their pieces “Aba Po, Santa Mariang Reyna," “Rytmus," and “Le Chant des oyseaux." Some 40 choral groups coming from Australia, China, Hongkong SAR, Indonesia, Macau SAR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom competed in eight categories. Now on its fourth year, the choral festival aims at promoting cultural exchanges between and among participants. During their visit to the Philippine Embassy last July 8, the PUPLHS rendered some of the songs performed during the competition. - GMANews.TV