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.

15 choirs compete for Musica FEUROPA 11 title

Fifteen choirs from different parts of the country will sing it out for the Musica FEUROPA 11 title this May 25 & 26, 2019 at the FEU Auditorium, Far Eastern University Campus in Manila.

Co-presented by the FEU President's Committee on Culture and the Delegation of the European Union in the Philippines, Musica FEUROPA is an annual choral competition that aims to promote choral music and literature from the Philippines and the EU member states.

The competition begins on May 25, 2019, 10:00 AM with the Semifinals of the Teen Category. Previously known as the High School Category, this year sees its expansion to the Teen Category allowing for participants up to 19 years of age.

Later in the afternoon at 2:00 PM will be the Open Category Semifinals. The top three finishers from each category will then compete in a single pool at the Finals happening on May 26, 2019, 3:00 PM.

FEU Chorale

Teen Category Semifinalists

Eusebia Paz Arroyo Memorial National High School Youth Choir

Himig Roseña

Salinlahi Serenata Singers

School of the Holy Spirit Chorale

UST SHS Chorale

Open Category Semifinalists

Coro de Manila

Coro Jesu

De La Salle University Chorale

Ganap QCPU

Himig Rizalia

Holy Angel University Chorale

Technological Institute of the Philippines Chorale

The University of Manila Singing Ambassadors

The Voices of Cebu Chorale

Vox Animae

This year also sees the debut of a competition piece with Saunder Choi's El Vasto Mar to be performed by all the choirs making it to the Finals.

This new commissioned work features lyrics in Spanish lifted from Sampaguitas y Poesia Varias by Filipino poet Pedro Paterno. The words describe the stark juxtaposition of the wild waves above and the peaceful waters below of the seas, somehow mirroring the condition of the country during that time. The piece conveys how music serves as a universal language to promote unity, peace, and harmony among different nations.

Musica FEUROPA 11 team

Admission to the competition is free with tickets are available through Ticket2Me, a ticketing app that can be readily accessed through any desktop or mobile devices.

Musica FEUROPA 11 is presented by Far Eastern University through it's President's Committee on Culture, the Delegation of the European Union in the Philippines, and also by 98.7 DZFE.FM The Master's Touch and the Embassy of Germany.