University of Caloocan City Chorale

University of Caloocan City Chorale (UCC Chorale) is the premiere cultural ambassador of the proud city of heroes, Caloocan City and the institution of higher learning enshrined in its name.

History

Re-established in July 2006, the choir has since stretched its borders by not only performing in university and city functions, but also to other high-profile engagements such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD) "Sing for Me" program which aims to raise funds for under-privileged children, and the Department of Tourism - National Capital Region's (DOT-NCR) "Paskong-Pasko sa Metro Manila 2007 Chorale Competition."

The Conductor

The chorale's conductor is Professor Ernani Baetiong, composer, arranger and conductor who studied choral conducting under the wings of renowned National Artist for Music Maestro Lucio San Pedro at Sta. Isabel College, and Sr. Mary Placid Abejo of St. Scholastica's College of Music. Originally trained in solo instrument performance, he first studied under legendary brass band conductor Professor Benedicto San Jose, and his son Romy San Jose, Doctor of Music who earned his degree from the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music. He lated moved on to train with Professor Garry Silangcruz of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra and faculty member of the UST Conservatory.

In his young life as a musician he ventured into applying his skills and knowledge to train church choirs and fellow musicians. He has spent more than twenty years offering his services to churches and has helped train hundreds of singers and accompanists in these times.

In college at the University of Santo Tomas College of Science (where he took-up his pre-med B.S. Biology), he went back to his roots of playing the flute and joined the UST ROTC Band and sought further training by momentarily joining the UST Singers as trainee, under the baton of Prof. Fidel Calalang, musical genius extraordinaire who steered the UST Singers into winning the title Choir of the World in 1995.

To further expand his horizons, he joined and trained with the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) as Artist/Teacher where he became part of critically acclaimed productions such as Operetang Tatlong Pera (adaptation of Three Penny Opera) starring Monique Wilson, Mario O'Hara and Lou Veloso, Summer Dreamin' (adaptation of A Mid-Summer Night's Dream) and the Laboratory Theater presentation of Buhay Lotto. In this field he earned his knowledge through the help of outstanding theater personalities such as Palanca Award Winner Rody Vera, Women's Award winner Dr. Glecy Atienza, Ma. Gloriosa Cabangon, Maribel Legarda, Soxie Topacio, Ernie Cloma, Raul Alfonso, Raffy Tejada, Nilo Yacat, and Noel Cabangon. He studied Modern Dance/Jazz Ballet at the Cultural Center of the Philippines . He also became Musical Director and Artistic Advisor of Dulaang Apolonio Samson and staged the riveting Ka Apolonio Samson, a musical about the Philippine Independence Movement of 1896, which was awarded a spot in the 1st National Theater Festival at Intramuros, Manila.

In July of 2003 in recognition of his respectable musical works and contributions, he was tapped as Juror of the 16th Awit Awards by the Philippine Association of the Recording Industry (PARI), for which he screened the category of Ballads, in which the entry Hanggang (Wency Cornejo) won the year's award for Best Ballad Song.

And from hereon, he has and still does arrangement/composition/training stints for various corporate clients (including Triple-V Group of Companies, Oracle, AMA Computer College, Ayala Land Inc., PLDT, Philippine Maritime Institute and the Ayala Museum) and churches (Catholic, Aglipayan and Lutheran).

In June of 2006 he was appointed as Conductor of the revitalized University of Caloocan City Chorale, which has since retrofitted itself away from the conventional notion of chorale and mixed voice singing, and towards the path of an all-around show choir, not only focused on singing, but now a total entertainment package rolled into one, with acts and dances similar to Broadway Musicals, to skits and spiels depicting real-life situations infused into song and presented as a complete storyline onstage.

Composition

The groups is composed of students from the University of Caloocan City. Being an honor's program, members are granted scholarship benefits and are required to maintain an above average grade point average, making the group composed not only of talented individuals, but also promising students in each of their chosen fields of study.

Awards/Citations

* University of Caloocan City's Most Outstanding Organization for School Year 2007-2008
* Paskong Pasko sa Metro Manila Chorale Competition 6th Place
* Plaque of Appreciation from the DSWD for contributions in the Sing for Me project

Source/Reference
* DSWD Sing for Me Website

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