Ang bago kong motibasyon sa pang-araw-araw na pamumuhay:
Tama, tama. Konti na lang. :DAnyway, highway. Kanina, ginamit ko nanaman ang aking stalking powers. :)) Haha. At ito ang mga picture na aking nakita:
1. Isang Daan sa Isandaan (Centennial Kick-Off Concert sa UP Theater)
Yup, ako yang nasa first row. Third from stage left. Ahaha. Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, June 2007 yan. :)
2. Angelic voices angelic hearts
Yup, ako ulit yang nasa first row, third from stage left. Naka-red. :) Nakakatawa. Neneng-nene ang dating :)). Dec'02 ata yan eh :))
Children are gifts, blessings from God. They light up every home with their laughter and innocent smiles. But there are some children who shine brighter than others because they are able to bring back or give light to other children's lives.
Such is the gift of the members of the Cherubim and Seraphim Choir, the official children’s choir of the University of the Philippines. Not only do their presence and camaraderie bring light, joy to the less fortunate but also their angelic voices, which are reflective of angelic hearts.
According to Prof. Elena Mirano, her mother, the late Prof. Flora Rivera, former chairperson of the Conducting Department of UP, intended to put up a children’s choir to experiment on the musicality of children as well as their capacity to learn good values and behavior through music.
“We train children for discipline and to enrich (their) lives through the musical experience,” Mirano said.
After Rivera’s trip from Taipei in 1971, where a children’s choir inspired her to form a local version, she arranged for auditions for children, all over the Philippines, to form a children’s choir. The Cherubim and Seraphim children’s choir was born on Sept. 21, 1971.
For 31 years, the choir has joined various music festivals here and abroad. However, Rivera and Mirano have made it a choir policy not to join contests, as it encourages competition and not cooperation among members.
“We don’t join competitions as a matter of policy. We want to emphasize the spirit of cooperation rather than competition,” explained Mirano.
In addition, Mirano also said that the groups’ focus is more of training children to become responsible and able citizens in the future.
In place of contests, the choir conducts summer workshops with other children’s choirs to teach other children to sing. This is actually a part of Prof. Rivera’s purpose of putting up a children’s choir — “enriching lives through music.”
“My mother wanted to experiment on the capability of the Filipino child as a medium for singing. Experiment on possibilities — what, how much you can teach children,” Mirano added.
Through the workshops, the children are not only able to hone their God-given talents but even other children’s talents as well. They are also taught discipline and camaraderie as they are paired off with participants and try to teach these participants a few notes.
Angelic voices at work
According to Giselle Esguerra, a regular member of the choir, there is a workshop supervisor who facilitates the whole workshop. The workshop supervisor/facilitator instructs the Cherubim and Seraphim members to sing and the participants to follow.
“Yung iba, nakakasunod pero hindi masyado (nakakasunod),” said Tara Rivera, a graduating high school student and a regular choir member.
“Wala silang formal training,” added another regular member, Gabby Valbuena.
The choir has conducted several singing workshops in Bohol, Boracay, and here in Manila.
In Bohol, the choir paired off with the Loboc Children’s choir in teaching 800 workshop participants. On the other hand, the children also gave a separate workshop the following year to 20 children in Boracay.
However, Tara, Giselle, and Gabby said they weren’t able to bond with the workshop participants because they did not stay in the same place the choir stayed.
“Pumupunta lang po sila kung saan kami tumitira tapos karamihan sa kanila, tahimik,” Gabby explained.
On the other hand, it was a different experience for choir members to teach 20 child laborers from Pandacan and Montalban. Aside from increasing their social awareness, the children were also able to discover, by themselves, that many of the children they taught were very talented.
“Nung nakasama namin ‘yung mga child laborers, marami sa kanilang nakakasunod (sa pagkanta),” said Giselle.
“They shared their talents and they learned a lot (from the experience),” added Mirano.
At present, the choir has 50 members, 30 regular members, and 20 apprentices. Most of the members are from the UP Integrated School and some members from Miriam College, Claret School, and Philippine Science High School. [AND St. Theresa's College. Haha. Ouch naman. :)) K, Bye. :)) 2002 pa naman ito eh. Kaisa-isa pa akong Theresian nun. Ngayon, 3 na kami. HAHA.]
The members are aged between eight years old (or younger) and 16 years old, who are fourth year high school students. However, some children joined the choir at a very young age. Tara joined the choir when she was five years old while her brother, Mik Rivera, joined when he was three. All the children leave the choir when they graduate from high school.
Closeness through music
The long years of membership in the choir allowed members to treat each other like sisters and brothers. According to the members, aside from the long years they spend in the choir, the bond is attributed to the bonding sessions they usually have where they talk about their relationships in the choir, friendship, good values, and about life in general.
“(Tulad) kapag may samaan ng loob, sabihin na para maayos — hindi naman bull session — hindi para lumala pero para maayos yung samaan ng loob,” Tara explained.
In the past 31 years, the Cherubim and Seraphim choir produced some of the country’s top musicians, like Rowena Arieta, Arnie Nepomuceno, Lyn Scherman, Fiona Muñoz, and several members of the Madrigal singers.
However, the choir also produced many professionals, doctors, writers, and others. Most of their members even pass on the membership in the choir to their children. Most of the members of the choir are children of the choir’s alumni.
“We aim to produce disciplined people who have made music a part of their lives,” concluded Mirano.
Source: http://www.yehey.com/lifestyle/default.aspx?artid=557.
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