Here is the article from the Madz' FB page:

The Philippine Madrigal Singers was conferred the prestigious Guidoneum Award 2010 by the Fondazione Guido d’Arezzo in Italy.  The foundation honored the Madrigal Singers “for the artistic and choral promotion activity that they carried out after they won the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing in 2007.”

Fondazione Guido d’Arezzo president Francesco Lusi said that the foundation has “followed attentively and with great pleasure the fruitful activities of the Madrigal Singers and are grateful for all that the Philippine Madrigal Singers have done for the choral world”.

The honor was conferred after the gala concert of the Madrigal Singers at the closing of the 58th International Choral Competition on Saturday in Arezzo, Italy, the multi-awarded group said.

Fondazione Guido d’Arezzo is the organizer of the Arezzo International Choral Competition, one of the top competitions in the choral world.

 Ananda Sukarlan, Contributor, Bandung | Sat, 08/07/2010 1:28 PM | Feature A | A | A |

Elegance: The Alterio Choir of Bogor, West Java, is among choirs who brought magic to the competition.

If you think you need to be Harry or Hermione and attend Hogwarts School to learn about magic, you are dead wrong.

There was magic  all around the Bandung Institute of Techology (ITB ) International Choir Competition from July 25-Aug. 1. I had the honor to serve on a jury with Jonathan Velasco and Mark Anthony Carpio (choir conductors from the Philippines), Wong Su Sun (a well-known Singaporean opera singer), Carl Crossin (the director of Adelaide Conservatory of Music, Australia), Dr. David Hughes (an American conductor) and two generations of Indonesian sopranos, Catharine W. Leimena and Aning Katamsi.

I admire the decision of ITB to invite (and trust!) a composer to take part as a judge. Yes, the majority of my works involve the piano more than the human voice as my main instrument. However, if I started to sing I’d scare even the tiniest creature around me.

Participants were judged on many criteria: technique, the art of blending their voices to create “colors”, depth of musical ideas, understanding of form and harmonic progressions as well as solid construction of the song performed.

The latter criteria were my particular focus. After that, it was pure music.

 I have always said that the human voice is the best musical instrument on this planet, and last week I was vindicated again. Incredible works of music were wonderfully performed during the week and spoke directly to the audience’s hearts, such as Hope, Faith, Love, Life by Eric Whitacre, We Beheld Once Again the Stars by Z. Randall Strope or Indra Listiyanto’s choral arrangement of the Sundanese folksong Bubuy Bulan.

Follow me: Conductor of Brawijaya University of Malang choir in East Java leads her team.

One thing I noticed was a relative dearth of “substantial” music programmed by the participating choirs.
There was much good choral music to be heard, but sometimes it didn’t automatically deserve to be called good music.

Some good choral music exploits choral techniques to its limits by using sound effects, hoquetus
and antiphonal techniques, for example.

However, many composers forget that technique is simply a means and not an end. Truly great music still lies in the basic elements of harmony, melody, rhythm and the composer’s craftsmanship.

Whipping the spirit: Participants of the Bandung Institute of Techology (ITB ) International Choir Competition perform the Pecut Sapi (Cow Whip) dance as they sing.

Special effects (which can be highly attractive and fascinating) — no matter how virtuoso they
can appear  —  don’t necessarily have a power to communicate with audiences.

I would mention another thing, as a composer and as an Indonesian. There were so many choral arrangements of traditional folksongs that were so “un-Indonesian” performed last week.

I firmly believe that a composer should keep in mind the roots and tradition of the folksong when creating a new arrangement.

So many folksongs have had their original melody and character blurred by arrangements that are more suited for an ersatz Broadway musical or even a jazz club.

Worse still, some could be part of a Jamaican rhumba bar or a flamenco show in Seville, changing places in just a matter of seconds!

This problem, I believe, lies in a lack of musical knowledge and not so much from the composition (I should say arrangement) technique of the arrangers. I hope it is not a national identity crisis of our arrangers and composers.

In high spirits: A male choir sing their best in the festival held from July 25-Aug. 1.

Over the course of the week I talked with several composers to analyze the folksong arrangements of great composers of the past and present, such as Hungarian Bela Bartok or Australian Peter Sculthorpe. I advised people not to imitate what they have done but to simply learn how the great masters did it.

Attraction and entertainment should not be the main goal of a piece of art.

Depth and honesty of expression, a well-defined character and artistic quality are more important.

Apart from those minor shortcomings in programming and arrangements, this prestigious biennial competition contributed many positive things to contemporary classical and choral music.

Two things stood out: The performance of the Philippines Madrigal Singers (who were chosen as the 2009 UNESCO Artist of Peace) and ITB’s successful performance of the world premiere of my piece Stanza Suara, the first piece written for choir and orchestra involving musicians playing the traditional angklung bamboo instruments of West Java.

Traditional outfits: Participants wear traditional Batak North Sumatra costumes while singing a folk song.

When ITB commissioned me to write a piece for the inauguration of the festival, they specifically asked me to use traditional instruments. Angklung have never been involved in “western classical” music. From the first note I wrote I intentionally didn’t integrate the West Javanese musical elements in my music.

I wanted to write my own piece of music not a Mahlerian pastiche orchestration of  West Javanese tunes.

Problems arose when working with the angklung players, since they were not used to reading music or following the (classically-trained) conductor’s gestures.

The piece turned out to be complex to rehearse and perform, due to the different ways that the orchestral musicians, choir singers and the angklung players of perceiving music, but conductor Indra Listiyanto managed to do a great job in uniting.Most importantly, she made Stanza Suara a solidly-constructed piece.

I was very impressed with the Philippines’ Madrigal “Madz” Singers. The Madz peformed a full concert of virtuoso pieces.

I personally did object (though certainly the public did not!) to a couple of “circus” pieces that amazed the audience, such as the shallow game of percussive-like sounds by the Canadian Murray Schaeffer “Gamelan”.

It sounded like anything but a gamelan. The composer even got the Balinese mode wrong!
I was glad to discover some valuable gems such as De Profundis by the Philippines composer
John A. Pamintuan which is a virtuoso (compositionally speaking) passacaglia.

However, all those pieces were performed exactly as they were demanded: in a highly musical, artistic, virtuoso and amazing way with great and refined taste and with continuing sharp focus on minute details.

Pick us: Participants dance and sing in a competition.

They are performing again in Surabaya on Aug. 7 and in Jakarta at Usmar Ismail Hall on Aug. 10, and you’ll certainly regret it if you miss them.

Although the Philippine Normal University Chorale (PNUC) finally won the Grand Champion of this prestigious event, I would like to mention the high artistry and achievements of Indonesian choirs that won gold medals.

We certainly are proud of Paragita Choir’s both female and male choirs. These students at the University of Indonesia both competed separately to win the first prizes of their category ... and then competed with each other in the final round to acquire the Grand Champion title!

Also noteworthy were Agria Swara Choir of the Bogor Agricultural Institute,  the University
of Tarumanegara (IPB) Choir with their conductor Angela Astri Soemantri (who I as a jury member voted for the Best Promising Conductor, and am still believing it), the Gita Smala Youth Choir of Surabaya and the St. Angela Youth Choir of Bandung with their conductor Roni Sugiarto, who at last won the Best Promising Conductor.

They have won medals in other choral competitions abroad during the last years, and surely will keep on doing so in the years to come.



Truly great music still lies in the basic elements of harmony, melody, rhythm and the composer’s craftsmanship.

­— Photos courtesy ITB  International Choir Competition  (www.fpsitb.com)

Fact of the matter is, I wasted about four weeks doing nothing in July, that my work piled up this month.  Fortunately I was able to finish it all up yesterday, in one day, as I got up at around 6am and worked straight until the evening (while squeezing in a few hours in between for a much needed spa appointment!). 

So now we have already gotten ready for our big, big concert in September where Vytautas Miskinis is coming to Manila to conduct the world premiere of his new work Six Sights to Song of Songs, to be performed by THE CHAMBER CHOIR OF ASIA, with five new member conductors from Japan (Masahiro Kishimoto), Indonesia (Aida Swenson), Taiwan (Yu Chung Ku), Malaysia (Tracy Wong), and Singapore (Jason Ong).

This is after our successful soft launch part II last Saturday where we sang our repertoire for the International Choir Competition in Tolosa Spain this November.  BUT we are changing some of the songs as they were either not to difficult, or just not too great.  Goodbye Janequin, hello Monteverdi; goodbye Schumann, hello Mendelssohn; and a big golly gush hello to Vytautas Barakauskas.

Anyway, we still have a lot of time to learn the music, considering that we are leaving for Spain on Oct 21, yet!  We only rehearsed the songs three times before we performed them on Saturday last, but funny thing is we only learned some of the songs on the day itself, including the two opera arias from The Magic Flute (Der Hoelle Rache), Turandot (Nessun Dorma) and our encore, Somos Novios, all beautifully arranged by our colleague Robert Delgado.

It has been a hectic month so far, and we are loving it!

The Vocalia Taldea female choir under Basilio Astulez, will be launching a new CD entitled Maria Mater on June 25 at the main hall of the Victoria-Gasteiz Conservatory in Spain.

The recording contains hymns to the Virgin Mary, including "Oremus" by John August Pamintuan which won the Prize for the Premiere of a New Work at the Florilege Vocal de Tours International Choir Competition in France 2009.

To order copies, send an email to basilioastulez@hotmail.com

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The PCDA national convention & masterclass is for YOU!

PCDA is inviting all choral directors and enthusiasts nationwide to its First National Convention and 3rd National Masterclass for Choral Conductors on 10-15 November 2010 in Davao City.


Great things happening at the National Convention...

• Movers and shakers of the choral arts in Luzon, Visayas & Mindanao will converge in the host community for the first-of-its-kind national gathering under the auspices of the PCDA to discuss current issues and trends.


• Big names in the Philippine music industry and the global choral circuit top the bill in masterclasses from the basic to the cutting-edge, some of which have never before been offered in the country, or probably even the world.


• Like angels descending from heaven, award-winning conductors and the most sought-after choral clinicians take time off from their intercontinental jet setting to meet choirs for one-on-one artistic assessment & consultation.


• World premieres… world beats… world-class artists! Only the winners plus the performance of an exciting new vocal ensemble and a series of concerts and collaborations with choirs of the host community.


• Choral practitioners and enthusiasts meet and connect to learn and exchange in a more casual environment at The Choral Plaza in between sessions where a wealth of licensed choral publications and recordings are on sale at special prices.
  

Congratulations to the six choirs from the Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto area for a very successful concert yesterday at the Biwako Hall in Otsu, Japan.  I was very delighted at the very high level of the performances, and impressed with the choice of songs for their individual programs. 

The concert not only made me realize that the KANKONREN member-choirs can prepare well, but also can fulfill the demands of study and performance of very challenging music.  The student conductors, even if they are not music majors from conservatories, proved that they have the knowledge and artistry to teach such pieces with a high requirement of vocal and choral technique.

Congratulations also to Iinuma-san for leading the six choirs in the joint performance of songs from the Maior Caritas suite Op. 5.  Needless to say, the beautiful acoustics of the hall also helped in heightening the overall mood of the festival choir numbers skillfully led by Ms. Iinuma.

Thank you also to Mr. Hattori of Pana musica for promoting the music and merchandise!  It was a truly enjoyable afternoon and the long travel to Otsu from Kobe was definitely worth it!

May 28 Osaka
May 29 Kyoto
May 30 Kobe
June 1 New York
June 2 North Carolina
June 9 Boston
June 15 New York
June 29 TCCA rehearsals Manila
July 16 Shaoxing, China
July 31 Manila
Aug 7 TCCA concert Baguio
Aug 10 L.A.
Aug 15 San Francisco
Sept 26 TCCA Grand Launching Concert

from The Jakarta Post
Harry Nazarudin, Contributor, Jakarta | Fri, 05/14/2010
link to original article on the web here

Although it is common for children to sing, youth choirs are comparatively rare in Indonesia. However, each of us can still remember a lullaby we learned when we were younger.

It is a pity then that although singing is a common activity for children, there are very few professional children choirs in Indonesia. This is what prompted Aida Swenson to establish the Indonesian Children and Youth Choir “Cordana” in 1992. The Cordana choir has two main goals: to be a center of excellence for professional children’s choirs in Indonesia and to represent traditional Indonesian music to the world.

Seeing a performance of the Cordana choir is always special because it is very easily enjoyed by all, especially children. One does not have to worry about sons or daughters falling asleep at this concert, because almost all children pay full attention to each performance.

This is because the music is transformed into a stunning singing and dance performance, with colorful costumes, brilliant choreography and last but not least, superb vocal skills.

This year, the Cordana choir is preparing to perform in Germany and Belgium to represent Indonesia at the 10th Musica Sacra Music Festival, from May 14 to May 31, 2010. Cordana has the honor of being invited to this festival, after their stunning performance at the 8th World Symposium of Choral Music in Copenhagen, Denmark (2008), and the Incheon International Choir Festival in Incheon, Korea (2009).

The theme of the Musica Sacra Festival is a celebration of sacred music from different religions in the world that promote peace and harmony.

To convey Indonesia’s religious diversity and culture of tolerance, the Cordana choir will feature music from different ethnic and religious backgrounds in Indonesia. Their masterpiece this time – which was performed at their pre-concert event held in Jakarta’s Goethe Haus on May 6 –  is Ummah, Sallih, a choral interpretation of the Al Araf, or sura (chapter) 7 from the Holy Koran by John A. Pamintuan. The performance opens with a muazzin (a person who performs the Muslim call to prayer in Arabic), chanting the holy verses of the Koran in the foreground. Then the choir, dressed in black with white veils and a tasbih (Muslim prayer beads) on their right hand, sings the majestic vocals, starting with a strong alto solo section in Arabic.

Then, some staccato acapella singing follows as a background for the solo. A choreography representing the movements of Islamic prayer (sholat) accompanies this piece. The movement stresses the majestic nature of the composition, beautiful yet full of respect, which represents the greatness of Allah.

The Cordana choir also performs a tribute to Javanese culture, as they sing Sinden and Ilir-ilir, both traditional Javanese folk songs. This time, a beautifully choreographed Javanese dance accompanies the choral music. The mood quickly changes into a more relaxed atmosphere, with a slow Javanese pentatonic melody. The singers appear in green and red kebayas, a traditional Javanese dress, complete with long scarves used to add to the graceful dance. The song Ilir-ilir is performed in a canonic style, as the parts of the choir start singing at different times, but then flow into a harmony.

As a native North Sumatran, Aida Swenson has prepared something from her hometown. The song Palti Raja, a Batak folk song by Tilhang Gultom, is performed alongside the flagging of the ulos, a scarf central to the culture of the Batak people. This performance is supported by a Batak flute and a gondang (a drum from wood). From the slow moving Javanese music, the mood jumps as the thumping gondang beat picks up. The vocal of Palti Raja involve a cheerful but very fast-paced pronunciation, which is not easy for the children, but the fortissimo volume is performed with perfection and keeps up with the vibrant dance.

The Cordana choir will also perform two of their favorite masterpieces: Rampai Aceh from the province of Aceh and Janger, a folk dance from Bali. Janger is performed using a beautiful geringsing Balinese dress, together with a Balinese gamelan and a male dancer. Rampai Aceh is a synchronized dance from Aceh, which demands not only a very strong alto and soprano solo performance, but also a challenging, ultra-fast dance movement. Seeing these children performing with a great vocal piece and keeping up with the demanding choreography will give the world a new perspective of Indonesia as a world of color and music, peacefully blend into a rainbow of cultures, yet together as one.

We hope that the Cordana choir will continue their mission to promote Indonesia’s harmony in diversity to the world.

— Photos by JP/Harry Nazarudin

This month is abound with choral workshops I am giving in Manila, Baguio, Jakarta, New York, Boston and to culminate in a workshop and concert in Osaka, by a choir of 300 singers from 6 universities. performing 5 songs from my Maior Caritas suite.. What more can one ask for?

When does one get to sleep, relax, unwind and have fun?  Surely in-between.  Am not one to slave myself over a fixed and stone-set schedule.  The beauty of life lies in the fact that you can always change your mind, that you are the master of your fate.

And if you feel that you are already too busy, it means you don't know how to manage your time well.  Busyness is a sign of inefficiency, that's what I always believe in.  You can always make time for something you love to do, or to make up a reason to escape.

So this month, in spite of on-goings, happy and sad, I am making time to go back, and enjoy, to explore, and reconnect with my past love... PALAWAN :)

Stephen Foster is a name we have come to know through his famous music.  Who have not heard of Camptown Races, Swanee River, and Oh Susanna?  As young children, we played, sang or heard his pieces in school and at home, and have never forgotten the simple, but striking melodies of his creations. 

Fosteriana is an homage to the genius of Foster.  And to add freshness to the titles, the piece is arranged by John August Pamintuan in a peculiarly cute fashion for an ensemble of equally cute children, containing only 6 notes from a whole tone scale.  Interspered with the ostinati are the melodies that spring forth with vitality like daisies (or rabbits!) in a prairie, because after all, Foster came from Lawrenceville Pennsylvania, and his music represents an almost forgotten Old America, where the deer and the antelope played.  But of course, that's another story...