By Pablo Tariman, Alcuin Papa
Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines--The Philippine Madrigal Singers won the prestigious European Grand Prix for Choral Singing Sunday night (Monday morning, Manila time) in Arezzo, Italy.
The Madz, as the choir is popularly known, is the first and only choir to win twice in what is known as the choral Olympics of the world.
It won the European Choral Grand Prix (GPE) for the first time in June 1997 when the Madrigals represented the Tolosa Competition, the first and only Philippine choir to win this competition.
When it won the Florilege Vocal de Tours in France in 2006, the Philippine choral group earned the right to represent the Tours in this year’s choral Olympics, held on Sunday at the Church of Sta. Maria della Pieve in Arezzo, Italy.
The Madrigals beat formidable choirs such as Russia’s Vesna Children’s Choir, Hungary’s Cantemos Mixed Choir, Cuba’s Schola Cantorum Coralina and the Taipei Chamber Singers.
“Its overwhelming. Up to now we are very happy and pleased. No words can describe it,” Mark Anthony Carpio, the Madrigal’s choirmaster told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone from Italy.
Carpio said the choral group performed a 20-minute program for the competition which included: John Pamintuan’s arrangement of “Pater Noster,” a French madrigal, a German art song, the American contemporary song “We Beheld Once Again the Stars” by Z. Randall Stroope and a children’s song from Maguindanao titled “Kaisa-isa Nyan” by Nilo Alcala.
The 44-strong Philippine choir is scheduled to arrive in Manila on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Carpio said the Madrigals were set to perform a homecoming concert in October before leaving for the US.
The Philippine Madrigal Singers was founded in 1963 by National Artist for Music Andrea O. Veneracion, who led the choir in winning various choral competitions from all over the world. Veneracion passed on her choirmaster’s task to Madz member Carpio, who led the choir in winning the latest choral Olympics.
“I never had the ambition of becoming the choirmaster of a group I have admired for a long time,” said Carpio who took over in 2001. “But I trusted Prof. Veneracion’s decision. She had been praying intensely for this when the Madz won the 1997 GPE."
Carpio was overwhelmed when the Madz made history by winning its second GPE, this time, under his leadership.
“Nothing is more enjoyable than to see our hard work pay off. Feeling good about ourselves inspires us to even work harder. As Prof. Veneracion always said in the past, competitions are not the end; they are just means for us to see how well we are on track," Carpio said.
"We worked hard to achieve what we believed is the composer’s desire for each of our pieces. We did a lot of studying and research. But most of all, we did a lot of rehearsals," he added.
According to Carpio, there is no such thing as an ideal sound in any choral competition. The sound that the choir always tries to maintain is a free and relaxed sound but at the same time versatile and flexible.
“I believe there is no ideal or perfect sound for a choir. I have made this conclusion after listening to so many choirs from different countries of different cultures and ages. Each one sounds good but different from each other," he said.
"There are qualities that are common to choirs. They are homogenous and the different voice parts are well-balanced. This is what conductors find very challenging: How to make the different individual voices blend together. This is difficult but attainable," Carpio added.
The GPE is an annual choral competition for the winners of six European choral competitions. It was inaugurated in 1989.
The six competitions are the Concorso Polifónico Guido d'Arezzo (International Guido d'Arezzo Polyphonic Contest) in Arezzo, Italy; the Bela Bartok International Choir Competition in Debrecen, Hajdú-Bihar, Hungary; Concorso Cesare Augusto (C.A.) Seghizzi, (C.A. Seghizzi Competition) known more popularly as the Seghizzi contest in Gorizia, Italy; Concurso Coral de Tolosa (Tolosa Choral Competition) in Tolosa, Spain; the International May Choir Competition in Varna, Varna Province, Bulgaria; and the Florilège Vocal de Tour in Tours, France.
By winning the Tours competition in June 2006, the Madrigals qualified to join the GPE.
Despite its name, the GPE is not strictly for European choir groups. Any group from around the world can join in the competition in any of the GPE’s six member-cities. The competition is also not limited to adult choirs. Two past winners are children’s choirs.
Sweden has produced the most number of GPE winners with four choral groups. Lithuania has three winners, Hungary and the US have two each. Denmark, Japan, Latvia, the Philippines, Russia and Slovenia have one each.
The last winner of the 2006 GPE held in Tolosa, Spain is the University of Utah Singers from Salt Lake City, US.
Madrigal Singers win European Grand Prix for 2nd time
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About this Entry
This page contains a single entry by published on August 28, 2007 2:17 AM.
A Rose by any other name may be Rosa, Rosing or Rossana was the previous entry in this blog.
Getting closer to a dream orchestra in Iloilo City is the next entry in this blog.
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Congratulations to the Madz!!! U made us proud again. Our choir here in Italy was hoping to see you here in Rome, unfortunately it wasn't part of your itinerary. We even planned to go to Arezzo to watch your performance but due to a previous commitment, we didn't make it (sob).
hi! i think they only have 20 members not 44. anyway. congrats madz! continue to make waves! the whole nation is very proud of you!
The indicated size of the Madz (44-strong) appears to be inaccurate. The number of singers seldom go above 24 particularly for concert tours and international competitions where the Madz falls under the chamber choir category (maximum varies from 18 to 30). Under EGP rules, a choir cannot change category and number of singers (plus or minus 10% allowed) must remain constant from when it won a competition in the EGP circuit that made it eligible for the EGP championship.
im very proud to be pinoy!!!!!anywhere in the world pinoys really reflect the talents from within...MABUHAY TAYONG MGA PINOY!!!!!!!
Last year, I was invited to be an emcee of a certain choir competition somewhere in Manila.
I didn't know that I would meet the Madz Choirmaster Mark Anthony Carpio there until the floor manager of the competition handed me the program flow.
Congratulations to our very own Philippine Madrigal Singers. Hope to see you all in your homecoming concert this October.
Hi from Spain. As a friend and admirer of the Philippine Madrigal Singers I just can say THANKS. Thank you for the music and for let me share with all of you this wonderful moment in Arezzo..something I will never forget.
MABUHAY PILIPINAS
Topnotch! Any CD up for sale? I'll surely buy a copy!
Congratulations to the Philippine Madrigal Singers!!! We're looking forward to seeing you in Des Moines, Iowa on Sept.17.
MABUHAY!!!!!!
I think the 44 strong do not refer to the number of singers but of the age of the choir... you folks already said it that the number of singers never go up +/- 10% during the competition and that the choir cannot change category... And besides, I think Madz is known not only for being really good but actually in competing and/or performing with a minimum number of singers only (ranging from 20 to about 24; 24 is already maximum to a madz performance). Peace! Anyway, congrats to madz and continue the choral excellence you have showed us! :-)
Congratulations to the Madrigal Singers!
Despite the many frustrating news coming
from the home country, your winning this grand title makes me so proud that I come
from this country.
And so with other migrants in Europe, we thank you for this moment of honour and pride!
Congratulation to our very own THe Philippine Madrigal SIngers. You continue to insprire us with this unprecedented feat in the international choral scene.
God bless to you all!!!
Galing talaga ng mga Pinoy!!!!
Congratulations for being the BEST CHORAL GROUP IN THE WORLD! Mabuhay ang Pilipino.
Wow!!!!!!!!
salamat pedro castro.
44-yeard old madz presently with 22 members plus sir Mark =)
are there any GPE 2007 CD release??
I have a copy of the 1997 GPE competition when Madz first won. I would like to have a copy of the recent one..
too bad i hadnt had the time to go to Arezzo or your performances in Vienna. :) I really missed alot! Hopefully ill see you all next year
ferdi -Österreich
Hope Madz can visit MIsamis Occidental. Palagi nalang sila sa manila(CCP) and to other foreign places. Bisitahin naman nila ang mga pinoy sa probinsya.
congratz madz! walang talagang katapat ang pinoy!!!
Brown and beautiful!
The Philippine Madrigal Singers has yet again proved that Filipinos are the world's greatest performing artists. Yes, Madz has brought glory and honor to the country by bagging the grand prize in the recently concluded European Grand Prix for Choral Music held in Arezzo, Italy. It was all because of the choral group's unparalleled musical vituosity, technical proficiency and soulful singing. Indeed, the Madrigals are this nation's pride and joy.
To Madz and to Maestro Mark Anthony Carpio, congratulations! May we hear endless awards and accomplishments in the future. We are very proud of each and every one of you. Thank you for reliving Philippine's legacy in music. You are truly and undeniably the citadel and bastion of choral music in the Philippines; simply the world's greatest. We love you, Madz!
Not only brown and beautiful... BEST as well!
They make me cry... I would love to have a copy of their music. And watch them live!
kahit maubos sweldo ko sa ticket okay lang!
Kailan ang concert niyo? where to buy ticket?
hi! congratulations to the best choral group in the world. may you enlarge more your capacity in the world of music that the world may really know and prove that you are the pride of the phil island. congrats! may i request to your good office the pieces of your songs! thanks & God bless
keep up the good work!♥♥"
you are my idol.,,
madrigals rockzZ"♥♥
The people whom you dedicate these achievements too must be very, very proud. So, who are these people?
MADZ? truly WORLD CLASS!TRULY FILIPINO! congratulations!