MANILA, Philippines — Eight months of rigid training finally resulted in a bountiful harvest for the University of the Philippines Singing Ambassadors (UPSA), who returned home on Tuesday with 12 awards from prestigious choral competitions in Europe.
UPSA bagged awards from five different choral competitions in France, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, and Wales in the United Kingdom.
The awards include two grand prizes, seven 1st prizes, three 3rd prizes, plus five grand prize qualifications.
In an interview with GMA News’ 24 Oras program, UPSA founder and conductor Ed Manguiat said he never doubted that his group would not return home empty-handed becayse of the time and effort they poured into the undertaking long before their journey.
“Of course, before the competition everybody was nervous but definitely we’re already on,” Manguiat said in an interview with GMANews’ reporter Aubrey Carampel.
“We always did our best … that’s why we won first prizes and grand prizes,” Manguiat added.
He said the group underwent eight months of strict rehearsals before jumping into the competition proper.
“We studied about 70 difficult songs and then in one competition we even sang about 24 songs and everything was difficult.”
The group even rehearsed singing in different languages, like French, Hungarian, German, and Italian, the report said.
The group also hinted a double celebration following the triumph of their member, Gretchen Espina, the 20-year-old girl who was crowned as the country’s very first Pinoy Idol.
Pinoy Idol is a reality-based singing competition produced by GMA Network and FreeMantle — a franchise of the hit reality show American Idol.
As ambassadors, the group also staged a concert in Europe in their bid to promote goodwill, the report said.
The UPSA was initially formed as the Kalayaan Choral Crowd, a freshman dormitory choir of the Kalayaan Residence Hall at the University of the Philippines’ Diliman campus. It was later reorganized as the University of the Philippines Singing Ambassadors in 1980.
Tags: Competitions, Entertaiment, Gretchen Espina, UPSA
