Mandaue Children's Choir
Mandaue City Children’s Choir is unbeatable. It first came into prominence when it was adjudged as first prize winner in the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) on November 27, 2004. At that time, it was still Mandaue City School for the Arts Children Choir. When Choir Director, Dennis Gregory A. Sugarol left the school, he was persuaded to continue directing the choir upon the request of the choir members, their parents, and the community.
For a brief glimpse of what the choir does, Maestro Dennis usually starts the rehearsal with warm-ups that are unique in nature although he claims to have acquired some of his techniques from his professors at the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music (AILM) who obtained stellar achievements in choral music here and abroad. However, he creates some of these techniques as he goes along. There are times when he asks the children to sit down and close their eyes for meditation to clear their minds and bring them into the right space for a rehearsal. After the warm-ups, Maestro Dennis picks up the songs to practice, insists on correct intonation, proper articulation of vowel and consonantal sounds before trying to understand fully the lyrics of each song.
The Mandaue Children’s Choir won three gold medals in the 1st Asian Choir Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2007, for the children’s choir, folklore, and music of the religions categories which made the group eligible for participation in the Grand Prix, despite the change of name. It was in this Grand Prix of Choirs at the World Choir Championships in Gyeongnam Province of South Korea, in July 2009 that MCC was awarded first prize. There were no second and third prize winners. This competition was sponsored by Interkultur Foundation of Germany and the Government of Gyeongnam Province, South Korea.
The choir produced outreach concerts in the different parts of the country and abroad. Significant among those performances included: Panakayon sa Palanublion (Journey to Heritage) organized by the Cultural Center of the Philippines to commemorate the 35th and silver anniversaries of its outreach and exchange programs; WOW Philippines held in Intramuros, Manila: ASEAN Summit held in Cebu when it performed with Lea Salonga during the gala night show for the ASEAN leaders and their ladies; and concerts in Colorado, Los Angeles, and Utah, U.S.A. before integrated audiences which gained rare reviews. This summer 2009, the choir plans to perform in U.S.A.
Having drawn enthusiastic responses from Cebu community, the Mandaue Children’s Choir became the recipient of the coveted Garbo Sa Sugbo Award given by Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia on December 22, 2004 at the Capitol Social Hall, Cebu City. On February 28, 2008, the group received the Perlas Award (highest award for performing arts in Cebu) at SM Cinema 1, Cebu City.
The choir dreams to achieve more and as life gets hectic ― the children have learned to make time for the things they love to do in order to keep their dreams alive. The choir Director and the parents make the choir members understand that great achievements require faith and belief in themselves, vision, hard work, determination, dedication and constant bonding with Someone up there ― the main Source of beautiful music.
For a brief glimpse of what the choir does, Maestro Dennis usually starts the rehearsal with warm-ups that are unique in nature although he claims to have acquired some of his techniques from his professors at the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music (AILM) who obtained stellar achievements in choral music here and abroad. However, he creates some of these techniques as he goes along. There are times when he asks the children to sit down and close their eyes for meditation to clear their minds and bring them into the right space for a rehearsal. After the warm-ups, Maestro Dennis picks up the songs to practice, insists on correct intonation, proper articulation of vowel and consonantal sounds before trying to understand fully the lyrics of each song.
The Mandaue Children’s Choir won three gold medals in the 1st Asian Choir Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2007, for the children’s choir, folklore, and music of the religions categories which made the group eligible for participation in the Grand Prix, despite the change of name. It was in this Grand Prix of Choirs at the World Choir Championships in Gyeongnam Province of South Korea, in July 2009 that MCC was awarded first prize. There were no second and third prize winners. This competition was sponsored by Interkultur Foundation of Germany and the Government of Gyeongnam Province, South Korea.
The choir produced outreach concerts in the different parts of the country and abroad. Significant among those performances included: Panakayon sa Palanublion (Journey to Heritage) organized by the Cultural Center of the Philippines to commemorate the 35th and silver anniversaries of its outreach and exchange programs; WOW Philippines held in Intramuros, Manila: ASEAN Summit held in Cebu when it performed with Lea Salonga during the gala night show for the ASEAN leaders and their ladies; and concerts in Colorado, Los Angeles, and Utah, U.S.A. before integrated audiences which gained rare reviews. This summer 2009, the choir plans to perform in U.S.A.
Having drawn enthusiastic responses from Cebu community, the Mandaue Children’s Choir became the recipient of the coveted Garbo Sa Sugbo Award given by Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia on December 22, 2004 at the Capitol Social Hall, Cebu City. On February 28, 2008, the group received the Perlas Award (highest award for performing arts in Cebu) at SM Cinema 1, Cebu City.
The choir dreams to achieve more and as life gets hectic ― the children have learned to make time for the things they love to do in order to keep their dreams alive. The choir Director and the parents make the choir members understand that great achievements require faith and belief in themselves, vision, hard work, determination, dedication and constant bonding with Someone up there ― the main Source of beautiful music.
