PHL Madrigal Singers to hold concerts in Latin America

The world-famous Philippine Madrigal Singers (MADZ) will hold a nine-concert series in in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay -- all in Latin America. At a dinner in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Albert del Rosario commended the MADZ for bringing honor to the Philippines. Del Rosario met with the “MADZ" and the Filipino community at a dinner meeting in Buenos Aires in Argentina last Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday. “He called them the country’s Ambassadors of Goodwill," the DFA said in a news release. The MADZ is one of the major cultural groups based in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. The choir's founder was founded in 1963 by Professor Andrea Veneracion, National Artist for Music. The choir's current conductor and musical director is Mark Anthony Carpio. MADZ is the first choir in the world to win the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing twice -- in 1997 and 2007. Del Rosario was in Argentina after representing the Philippines in the 5th Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) Foreign Ministers Meeting. - VVP, GMA News