Reprinted from Adventist World, Sept 2011
Pavarotti
Trophy goes to Adventist University of the
Philippines
group.
By Girlie Mae Andrada, Ray Puen, BUC News
A choir from the Adventist University of the
Philippines
(AUP) won three top awards at the 2011 Llangollen
International Musical Eisteddfod festival in Wales,
United
Kingdom, held
between July 4 and 10, 2011.
After gaining first place in both the Mixed Choirs
and
Chamber Choirs categories, they went on to win the
renowned Choir of the
World title and the Pavarotti
Trophy on July 9.
The Llangollen
Eisteddfod, with noted Anglican cleric
Terry Waite, CBE, as its
president, is among
the world’s most prestigious choral competitions. The
group
won three competitions, including the top prize,
Choir of the World which includes the Luciano
Pavarotti Trophy. The trophy was made even more
special for
them as the event organizers moved the
starting time of the Saturday-evening
competition to
accommodate the Sabbathkeeping choir.
After winning the first two categories,
and gaining
entry to the final, the group had already decided that it
would not
compete during the Sabbath hours. However,
after praying about it, the group
was delighted when
the competition was moved to 9:30 p.m.––well after
sunset. That does not mean
they wasted their Sabbath:
during the competition they enjoyed the exceptional
hospitality and friendliness of the Welsh people who
accommodated the group in
homes in the village.
In return for their kindness and hospitality, the group
organized a Sabbath concert for the villagers.
While the rest of the
competitors were busy rehearsing
and preparing for the competition, the
Ambassadors,
the official name of the choir, were witnessing by
singing and
sharing their faith with the community.
They answered many questions about
Adventists,
as many of the locals had never heard of the church.
Tenor Zhean
Manalo said people reported “it was
the first time that they had met people
like us, that
we were ‘different,’ and how deeply we touched
people’s lives.”
The choir, led by Ramon Lijauco, Jr.,
arrived in the
United
Kingdom on July 7,
the night before the first
competition. Despite jet lag and fatigue from the
12-hour flight, the group competed with top choirs
from all over the world and
won the first prize in
the Chamber Choirs and Mixed Choirs categories.
The
minimum requirement for Mixed Choirs is
30 voices; the maximum for Chamber
Choirs is
29 voices. An alto volunteered to drop out in order
for the group to
qualify to compete in the Chamber
Choirs category. For the Mixed Choirs
category,
the group sang “Agnus Dei,”
by Krzysztof
Penderecki, and “Itako,”
an original composition by
conductor Lijauco. For the Chamber Choirs
competition, in which they surpassed both Mansfield
University Concert Choir
from Mansfield,
Pennsylvania, United States, and the CF1 choir from
Wales, they
sang “Amor de mi Alma,” by Z. Randall
Stroope, and “Bagbagto,” by Nilo
Alcala. On Saturday
evening they went head-to-head with five other choirs
for
the most prestigious award, the Choir of
the
World 2011 title and the Pavarotti
Trophy.
Printed adjudication notes read:
“We were in no doubt this is a
quality corporate
instrument of very high caliber, based on a strong
individual
vocal culture molded toward a clearly
understood choral sound.”
The AUP Ambassadors are the official
chorus of
the Adventist University of the Philippines.
Elton
Wallace, an American Seventh-day Adventist
missionary, founded the group in
1957 as an all-male
chorus. In 1971, under the leadership of Minerva
Arit-Penaranda, the group began accepting female
members. The group has actively promoted
Adventist education by visiting churches all
over the Philippines and other
countries in Asia
and the United
States.
In 2006 the Ambassadors joined the World
Choir Games in China and came
home Champion
in the Gospel and Spiritual categories. This has
inspired them to
join more choral competitions, not
only to win medals and trophies but also to
raise the
profile of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the
music community,
the latest being the Llangollen
International Musical Eisteddfod festival.
Raising the US$80,000 (£50,000)
needed for the
32 members of the choir to travel was a challenge,
but one that
did not daunt their spirits or their faith.
Since the Eisteddfod they have continued
to share
their faith––and completed their fund-raising with
invitations to sing
in St. Chad’s Church,
Wrexham,
followed by a concert at the Stockport Seventh-day
Adventist Church, then a
flight to Aberdeen, Scotland,
where a
series of concerts were arranged by a local
pastor, Lorance Johnson. This was
followed by four
mid-July concerts in the London area.
Highlights of
the competition can be viewed online at the
Llangollen TV web
site.