UPCC nagwagi sa nakaraang Musica Orbis Prague Festival na ginaganap sa Czech Republic
UPCC nagwagi sa nakaraang Musica Orbis Prague Festival na ginaganap sa Czech Republic
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I'm sure we'll be inspired by our guests for today
00:04because we'll be joined by Cassandra Imperial,
00:07tour manager and soprano member,
00:09and Calvin Capacete,
00:11president, assistant conductor, and bass member
00:14from the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus
00:18to give us information
00:20about their upcoming concert.
00:23Good morning to you, Calvin and Cassandra!
00:25Good morning!
00:27Hello!
00:28Good morning!
00:29And to all the viewers of Rise and Shine Philippines,
00:32good morning!
00:33Okay, alright.
00:35Before anything else,
00:36congratulations to all of you
00:37for winning awards
00:39at the Musical Orbis Frag Festival.
00:41You are the first Filipinos
00:43to enter the festival.
00:46Can you share with us
00:47your journey?
00:52Sure.
00:53First of all,
00:54it's an honor
00:56to be able to join
00:58the UP Concert Chorus
00:59here at the Musical Orbis Frag Festival and Competition.
01:03First of all,
01:03to represent our country
01:06and to share our music,
01:10music and culture
01:11through the songs that we sang.
01:14I'll just share an experience that I'm very happy about.
01:18When we arrive,
01:19the audience and other choirs get excited
01:22because,
01:23oh, they're from the Philippines.
01:24They really look forward
01:26to hear our music.
01:29How about you, Cassandra?
01:33Yes, our experience is very similar to Calvin's.
01:37When you get there,
01:37you already know that there's a sense of pride
01:40that they're looking at the Philippine choral community.
01:44So it's very exciting
01:45because we get to share our music
01:47and not only that,
01:47but we also get to hear the music
01:49of other countries
01:50and the choral groups
01:53that joined the festival and competition.
01:56Other people get excited when it's the Filipinos.
01:58So the expectation is very high
02:00when it's a choir from the Philippines.
02:02They know that
02:04as long as we sing well,
02:06there will be a lot of Filipinos
02:09who are very well-known when it comes to music.
02:15Given that experience,
02:16you were also part of a lot of concert tours
02:19such as Musica Dasig,
02:21an international goodwill and cultural concert.
02:24What are your experiences
02:26with other chorals from other countries?
02:28Of course, there are cultural differences.
02:33How was your experience, Calvin?
02:38Yes, it was very fruitful
02:41and fulfilling experience actually.
02:43So for a month and a half,
02:44we were able to sing for five different countries.
02:49Then aside from Musica Orbis,
02:51which was held in Prague,
02:53the tour actually started in the Netherlands
02:56because Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya invited us
03:00and the Philippine Embassy in The Hague.
03:02So we were there.
03:04We were the first Filipino choir
03:05to perform at Leiden University in The Hague.
03:10And then we had a successful concert
03:12at an invitation-only event
03:17for members of Diplomatic Corps
03:19and the business community
03:20in commemoration of the 126th anniversary
03:24of the proclamation of the Philippine independence
03:27and the 120th anniversary
03:30of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
03:36So it was very meaningful, actually,
03:39our stay in our first country
03:42because we were able to represent our country.
03:45Wow, Filipino pride!
03:48Yes, so we also performed
03:50for the different Philippine and local communities
03:52of the countries in Germany, in Italy, in Switzerland,
03:55and of course in Czech Republic
03:57where we had the festival and competition.
04:20So how did you do your routine
04:23to perfect the masterpiece of the choral?
04:28Okay, so mid-pandemic,
04:30we decided that we need to resume rehearsals
04:34because our system is looking for singing,
04:39especially in this situation.
04:41So what we did, we rehearsed through Zoom.
04:44Professor Jai Aracama, our conductor,
04:47was the only one who was unmuted.
04:49So the rest of us were muted.
04:51And Professor Jai will use the piano to play the pieces,
04:55explain, vocalize, give workshops.
04:59So we were trained there.
05:00And then by trust,
05:02Professor Jai has four trusted people
05:05who make sure that we get the first section right.
05:10And then what will happen is
05:11we will record individually in our homes,
05:15we will send it,
05:16and then we will combine those tracks
05:20to form a virtual choir.
05:23So that became our routine during the pandemic.
05:28The shift was big actually from the virtual to the face-to-face.
05:33So it was a transition for us.
05:36So even though we perfected the virtual,
05:39of course, going back to face-to-face,
05:41we had to change everything and adjust again.
05:44So Professor Jai really encouraged us
05:47to use the true sound of acoustic choral music.
05:50That's why our tour was a success
05:53because she really wanted to express
05:55that this batch has to see the world
05:57because the fulfillment of choral music is different
06:00when it's done together in one room
06:02as opposed to the virtual.
06:05Yes, given that a world-class talent,
06:08for sure, you've won a lot of awards.
06:12Can you share what are those
06:14since you won the last Musica Orbis Prague Festival?
06:21So we joined two categories for the competition.
06:24The first category is Unrestricted Repertoire.
06:27And we were also the overall category winner
06:30and we won gold for that category.
06:32For Folklore, we also won gold in the category.
06:37And then we got a special prize for best stage performance.
06:41Okay, you have a concert coming up.
06:45This will be held on August 2.
06:47And this is the Clarion,
06:49sounding the call for climate action.
06:51What are the things we should look forward to in this concert
06:54and how will they be able to buy the ticket?
06:58Yes, so UP Concert Chorus will have a concert
07:03in partnership with UP School of Economics.
07:06Its title is Clarion.
07:08And this will be held on August 2, 6 p.m.
07:11at the University of the Philippines School of Economics Auditorium.
07:16So you can buy the tickets on their Facebook page,
07:19School of Economics.
07:21And also on the Facebook page of UP Concert Chorus.
07:25Yes, it's a good time to talk about climate change
07:29because this is the last time we experienced
07:31the storm and the typhoon.
07:33So, viewers, if you're interested,
07:35and I'm very interested to watch your upcoming concert,
07:40what advice can you give to those who are aspiring to be singers
07:46or like you, Balang Araw?
07:47Those who want to join a choir, right?
07:49What is your advice to those who want to be a group singer?
07:54Yes, Cassandra.
07:56Yes, we hope that the UBCC can serve as an inspiration
07:59to different singers, musicians, and of course, to the choristers.
08:03Your voice can take you very far.
08:04We've been to Europe and different countries.
08:08So, I hope that when you perform, it's not just about singing,
08:11but also using it as a venue to share music.
08:15Like our concert, we can use it to spread different messages
08:19and help different communities.
08:22There, Maegi can do it.
08:23Yes, I was inspired.
08:25You'll be with the prog.
08:27Yes, I hope so.
08:28But maybe there's a borderline between being talented and ambitious.
08:34Thank you so much, Sir Calvin and Cassandra.
08:38We're excited for your concert.
08:41And of course, we're proud of you
08:44as a representative of our country in Prague.
08:48Yes, in Europe.
08:49Thank you so much, Cassandra and Calvin.