The Las Piñas Boys Choir (LPBC) emerged victorious in the two categories it competed in the World Choir Games 2008, Graz, Austria!

Once again, we have shown the world that the Filipino talent is world class!

The Las Piñas Boys Choir (LPBC) got the Silver Medal in the Musica Sacra Category, keeping up with the best choirs of the world, more than 70 choirs, pleasing the 7 judges from all over the world. There were more than 15 countries with honors, with 12 choirs getting silver medals and 6 choirs getting gold medals.

Most importantly, it got the Gold medal and was proclaimed as World Champion in the Children’s Choir category! The LPBC proved that they are the best children’s choir in the world besting more than 60 choirs from South Africa, Spain, China, Korea, Australia, Austria, USA, Greece, Estonia, Great Britain, Russia, etc. Choirs from more than 20 countries got honors, with 21 choirs getting silver and 11 choirs getting gold medals and with the LPBC being proclaimed as the World Choir Games Champion!

And what is amazing is that most choirs in the Musica Sacra are professional choirs and consists of around 40-60 members. The same goes for the children’s choir category. More than 70 choirs participated, around 20 choirs got the bronze medals, around 10 choirs got the silver medals and around 10 got the gold medals. Almost all children’s choirs have members ranging from 40-70. 20 boys of the Las Piñas Boys Choir (LPBC) captivated and conquered the world!

The LPBC is a well-known group in the Philippines where in the choir members are enrolled in St. Joseph’s Academy as scholars.  

The choir members are George Angeles II, Bernard Paolo Caro, Alvin Joshua Cayetano, Josiah de los Santos, Justin Claude Fernandez, Jadlae Aivan Fernandez, Joseph Vincent Gregorio, Carl Paolo Hernandez, Japheth Juanillo, Herman Manalang, Jhansseen Martinez, Dhonel Martinicio, Alwyn Dominique Panoso, Rupert Kim Pastrana, Ramon Paolo Quintero, Chazz Reyes, Karlo Reyes, Francis David Salonga, Joshua Gabriel, and Samiley and Joe Sengson. Professor Armando Salarza is the conductor. Alejandro Consolacion II is the accompanist. Staff and consultants are January Hernandez, Norie Salarza, Leo and Donna Renier. Management Team is Msgr. Albert Venus and Fr. Didoy Molina.

WATCH THEIR WINNING PERFORMANCE HERE .

World Choir Games 2008

The 5th World Choir Games has been touted as the largest and most successful choir competition of the world.  It was held in Graz, Austria, capital city of the province of Styria, which is at the crossroads between different European cultures from the east and west, north and south and considered as the unique old city centre is one of UNESCO’s world cultural heritage sites. In the year 2003 Graz was the spectacular cultural capital of Europe and in 2008 it will be the world’s capital of choral singing.

The 5th World Choir Games in Graz 2008 are well on the way to becoming the largest competition in the history of choir music. Until now about 450 choirs, with around 20,000 singers from 93 nations have registered already. The large number of participating choirs is complemented by folk dance groups and brass music bands which are going to turn this event into a unique festival of different cultures.
 According to the status quo China, Russia, Austria and Germany are going to delegate most of the participating choirs - more than 170 of them altogether, followed closely by Indonesia, Hungary and Croatia which will be present with nearly 90 choirs. This shows that our slogan “Singing together brings nations together” will be celebrated impressively in Graz in July.
 The choirs are going to demonstrate their abilities to the approximately 71 international jurors in more than 600 performances in 28 different categories. More than 1,000 concerts in Graz and vicinity will take place, including friendship-, gala- and special-concerts. Two-thirds of the participants at this event again are going to be children, teenager and young adults. The Children’s Choir category will have the most number of participants with well over 60 competing choirs. Over 140 performances in categories concerning children and youth choirs reflect this fact. But also the categories Folklore, Musica Sacra, Popular Choir Music as well as Gospel and Spiritual enjoy great popularity so that we are looking forward to another 220 performances.

Las Piñas Boys Choir: History and Legacy

The LAS PIÑAS BOYS CHOIR, LPBC, the well-known group of young singing boys proud to be identified as one of the few surviving “Boys Choirs” in the Philippines, has established themselves not only in the cultural and musical inheritance of our country but in the local and international music scene as well. Under the artistic direction of Professor Armando Salarza, the sixth and incumbent conductor and musical director of the LPBC, the group has been regular performers in the annual Bamboo Organ International Music Festival and emerged champion at the 2005 Vivere Choral Competition and has gotten the 2005 & 2006 Aliw Awards nominations as Best Chorale Group.

With these remarkable achievements, the LPBC has taken on the challenge of launching their new theme “Las Piñas Boys Choir: A Legacy of Musical Achievement.” Professors Salarza, a former boys choir member himself, is now rigorously preparing the LPBC and is in search of new challenges to widen their horizons and share their rich musical heritage. The LPBC will thus be representing the Philippines in the forthcoming WORLD CHOIR GAMES in Graz, Austria on July 09-19, 2008 and will be having a concert  in Vienna.

The Las Piñas Boys Choir was founded in 1969 by a Belgian priest Fr.Leo Renier, CICM with the purpose of forming a choir to complement the historic Bamboo Organ, housed in the Parish Church of St. Joseph, some 11km south of Manila. The group is composed of young boys between the ages of 8 and 15. All boys are enrolled at the St. Joseph’s Academy where they enjoy academic scholarships and are directly exposed to the various cultural activities offered in and outside the institution.

In 1974, the group earned first place in the Third National Competition of Children’s Choirs. After winning the title of National Champion regular invitations followed at Malacañang Palace. At the Cultural Center of the Philippines, they joined in performances and productions such as Bernstein’s Mass (1976) Brahms’ Requiem (1978) Puccini’s La Tosca with the San Francisco Opera (1979) Mozart’s Magic Flute with the Opera Company of Boston (1983) Bizet’s Carmen (1985) and Britten’s War Requiem (1992). In 1989, 3 members of the choir were selected to join “The World’s Little Singers” in Paris.

It is at the annual International Bamboo Organ Festival held at St. Joseph’s Parish, Bamboo Organ Church that the boys perform the great masterpieces of religious music, among these works are: the great masses by J. Haydn and W. A. Mozart; the St. John’s Passion, the B minor Mass and several cantatas by J. S. Bach; anthems by G. Fr. Handel; Misa ng Sambayanan Pilipino by F. Feliciano; and the Gloria and Magnificat by A.Vivaldi. Few choirs, definitely no children’s choir in the country, are given the opportunity to be exposed in this way and with such high exacting standards.

Several former members have chosen a career in music here and abroad, or are active in the cultural life of Las Piñas, thus ensuring the future of a tradition established around the Bamboo Organ. Among them is Cealwyn Tagle, the first and only pipe organ builder in the Philippines, and Professor Armando Salarza, who became the conductor and musical director of the Las Piñas Boys Choir in 2003. Prof. Salarza’s formation in Graz and Vienna as organist and church musician for 10 years helped greatly in promoting the quality of the voices and the discipline of the group. Under his guidance, they bagged first place in the Vivere Choral Competition in 2005, and got nominated twice as Best Chorale Group in the 2005 and 2006 Aliw Awards.

Through long and enduring years of hard work and success, the Las Piñas Boys Choir has established a cultural inheritance in the local and international music scene. This year-long identity has remarkably elevated their status and gave them reason to launch their new theme ‘LAS PIÑAS BOYS CHOIR: A LEGACY OF MUSICAL ACHIEVEMENT’. Last July 14, 2007 they had their first major concert entitled ‘Journey to the World’- Part I at the Phil-am Life Theater, UN Ave Manila, followed by Part 2 at SM Mall of Asia Centerstage on October 13, 2007 at 8pm and Part 3 “Send-Off Concert” at the St. Joseph’s Hall, St. Joseph’s Academy, Las Piñas, June 20, 2008, 8PM.

The 38 years of the Las Piñas Boys Choir (LPBC) have proven that there are still young people who feel rewarded not by money or stardom but by the mere satisfaction of a good performance, and who never stop striving for perfection: a refreshing sound in a country faced with so many difficulties.