Coro Jesu crowned Musica FEUROPA 11 champs

Coro Jesu, Musica FEUROPA 11 Champion

First time competitors Coro Jesu emerged as champions of Musica FEUROPA 11, choral competition held at the FEU Auditorium.

Coro Jesu

Conducted by Itchie Boy Montilla, the Makati based church choir bested five other finalists in a very much wide open field with no overwhelming favorites heading into the finals. The choir impressed the judges with their renditions Javier Busto and Matías Anton Mena's A Tu Lado, Ily Matthew Maniano's Daluyong, and Saunder Choi's El Vasto Mar, the commissioned competition piece. With this win, Coro Jesu brought home a cash prize of P100,000 and a trophy.

Himig Roseña, 1st Runner Up

Himig Roseña (1st Runner Up) and Salinlahi Serenata Singers (2nd Runner Up) found themselves among the top three after coming up short last year. They won P30,000 and P20,000 respectively as well as trophies.

Salinlahi Serenata Singers, 2nd Runner Up

The finals also marked the world premiere performance of Saunder Choi's El Vasto Mar, the competition piece commissioned for this year. My impression of this flowing work is that the soft repeated motifs in the upper registers at the opening is like a soft breeze skimming the gentle waves of the sea. And as the music thickens to involve more the lower registers, it is like plunging down towards the more turbulent currents beneath the surface. It then heads back to the seemingly calm surface of the sea as the repeated motifs are heard again.

It now remains to be seen if Coro Jesu will be back to defend its title or if Himig Roseña and Salinlahi Serenata Singers will join once again to equal or better their placements next year. How will these new winners fare if ever the past winning choirs join again next year? Well, that is a matter of Musica FEUROPA 12. But for now, I await to see how the choirs fare in other competitions (if they do join them) in the remainder of this year.