Misamis Oriental’s Villanueva Chorale brings home 2 golds from 18th Busan Chorale Festival

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The Villanueva Chorale brought honor and prestige not only to the Villanueva municipality and Misamis Oriental, but to the country at large, bringing home two gold medals in two categories from the 18^th Busan Chorale Festival and Competition, which was held in Busan, South Korea from October 19 to 22.

Composed entirely of residents from the fast-rising municipality, the Villanueva Chorale bagged a gold diploma in the Pop and Acappella category, another gold diploma in the Folk/Ethnic category, and finished as runner-up in the Grand Prix – all after being organized only two years ago.

The group performed “When You Believe,” “I Believe,” and “It’s Raining Men” for the Pop and Acappella Category, and “Ahibakle,” “Sa Kadagatan,” and “Tephaeyg” for the Folk/Ethnic category.

For the Grand Prix, each of the winners was asked to perform only one piece from their winning category. The Villanueva Chorale reprised their rendition of “I Believe.”

“We would like to extend our gratitude to all the people whose assistance was a milestone from the start to the end — with physical and financial support,” said Maestro Ralph Ramos on behalf of the Villanueva Chorale. “To the local government unit of Villanueva, headed by Mayor Jennie Uy-Mendez, former Congresswoman Juliette T. Uy, Team Unity Chairman Atty. Julio Uy, proud parents and families, we extend our warmest appreciation to all of you. Truly, the Villanuevanon can shine to the world!”

On the eve of the finals, the Villanueva Chorale also performed at Busan Station for an outreach concert together with all the participating choirs in the competition.

Challenges

The choir was selected to represent the Philippines from among 20 contenders who auditioned. Also selected were the Balanga Choral Artists, Bataan Peninsula State University Chorale, Imusicapella, and Sing Philippines Youth Choir.

However, the audition was only the first of many trials the group faced on the road to Busan.

“They had to provide for their own round-trip air fares to Busan, in-country accommodations, expenses in securing their Korean visas, meals, and other expenses,” shared Joane Jude Tabique, Villanueva’s media relations officer

“Besides their daily practices for the two categories they were competing in, they still had to perform in other towns around Misamis Oriental to raise funds for their trip, as well as lobby with senators and congressmen for financial and logistics assistance. They had to raise at least a million pesos for their trip to Busan. They faced a ton of challenges along the way, some fell sick, many were discouraged, almost all kinds of trials arose, but with the support of Mayor Jennie, all were made possible.” – Rappler.com