UST Singers win more awards in Poland festival

Following their major victory in Ireland and a successful concert in Spain, the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) Singers did the country proud yet again by winning all major awards in a prestigious choir competition, this time in Poland. The Philippine Embassy in Warsaw reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the UST Singers clinched all the top awards in the recently concluded 6th International Choir Festival Mundus Cantat. The festival was held in Sopot, Poland from May 19 to 23. Other participating choirs were from France, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine and host country Poland, according to a release posted on the DFA’s website. Under the baton of Professor Fidel Calalang Jr., the choir bagged all the Gold Diplomas in the Sacral Music, Secular and Folk Music, and Spiritual, Gospel and Jazz categories The UST Singers likewise scored a grand slam as one of the most successful Philippine choirs by getting the nod of the festival jury and winning the Grand Prix competition. Festival Director Joanna Stanskowska awarded the Statuette of Sopot Seagull to Professor Calalang, while Consul General Armando Comia handed him the "Grand Prix Diploma." “The UST Singers were an instant celebrity in the festival. The Philippine representatives in the choir competition were simply awesome in their performances that even competing choir conductors were already certain of the outcome even before the announcement of the results," the release stated. Ambassador Alejandro D. Del Rosario sent Consul General Comia and Cultural Attache Quennie Odiamar to Sopot to represent the Embassy and lend support to the choir. The Mundus Cantat Sopot Music Festival is held every spring in Sopot, gathering choirs from all over the world to strengthen common musical heritage and at the same time recognizing and celebrating cultural diversity. Before their highly acclaimed performance in Poland, the UST Singers copped two special awards in the 56th Cork International Choral Festival in Cork, Ireland on May 1. (See: UST singers get 2 awards in intl festival held in Ireland) The UST Singers also wowed Spanish and Filipino audiences alike with their well-received concert in Barcelona, Spain, the second time in three years that the group performed in the country. The UST choir is in Poland as part of its latest European tour, where they are slated to participate in six international choral competitions. According to the DFA, the UST Singers have won over 45 international prizes in the last 15 years. These include the award of ‘Best Choir in the World’ at the 2001 World Choral Festival in Puebla, Mexico and the Grand Prize at the 149th Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, United Kingdom in 1995. —Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV