Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School's Choir

It would be like having peanut butter without jelly on a sumptuous sandwich for snack. For like jelly adding more flavor to make the sandwich extra special, music – or in technical terms, the soundtrack – has long become an integral part of any movie to make the latter worth anyone’s single peso and be kept in the memory banks.

Thus, it is but unimaginable for any motion picture maniac for his or her favorite flick sans the infectious concoction of melody and lyrics to accompany what could become equally classic lines of its cast.

A HOT MUSICALE ON

A RAINY EVENINGIn celebration of music in movies, the University of the Philippines Economics Society (EcoSoc) staged a major fundraising event, musical style – a first for one of the leading student organizations in the State University.

Dubbed "Soundtrack", the three-hour event aimed at gathering young chorale groups from all over the Metropolis to develop among the young participating individuals the spirit of healthy and positive competition and, more importantly, instill in them the need to be passionate about any advocacy and the value of going beyond themselves.

For that rainy September night, invited student group crooners from Ramon Magsaysay (Cubao) High School, School of the Holy Spirit, St. Therese College, Dominican College, and Central Colleges of the Philippines warmed up the whole of PhilAm Life Theater with the brand of popular movie theme interpretations that each of them has to offer.

The competition required that the choirs be composed of 16 to 30 all-amateur members and perform one piece of their choice, either in English or Filipino, and one common piece for all – "Circle of Life" from the animated movie "Lion King". They were allowed to use handheld props, each of the groups was given free hand in choosing one particular movie theme, either in English or in Filipino, to perform.

Musicality, or the combination of exactness of pitch, tone and intonation; harmony or the blending of voices; dynamics or the varying loudness and softness of voices; and overall impact or the combination of appeal, production, costumes and audience impact comprised the scorecards of the board of judges chaired by UP College of Music dean Ramon Maria Acoymo. He was joined by Philippine Women’s University School of Music dean Perfecto Harold Galang, Philippine Madrigal Singers alumnus and Xavier High School Glee Club moderator Florencio Sebastian III, Junior Philippine Conductor’s Association founder and UP College of Music professor Michael Solitario, and Chorus Philippines member Marianne Miguel in grading the contestants.

Hosted by a 99.5 RT disc jockey, the musical competition likewise became a concert of sorts for most of the teenage students inside the hall once two of the country’s hottest bands today, Cueshe and Hale, played their current hit songs on stage. Guess-the-movie-theme and dugtungan (song connection) games were also played in between the performance of the contestants, to the enjoyment of the audience.

A UNIFYING FACTORIn the end, the 30-member RMCHS Choir, led by its conductor Edra Orlino Padilla, emerged as the victor, bagging the grand prize of P20,000 in cold cash plus gift packs from the sponsors. In a unified voice, they brought chills with their rendition of Sharon Cuneta’s 1985 hit titled from the movie of the same title.

Impressing the judges – and the crowd, too – and ultimately getting their nods was the choir’s soloist, Justine Kenneth Abellana, thanks to his outstanding voice that one doesn’t usually hear from a high school student but from a professional theater actor.

"I’m really very thankful… We are all very thankful dahil laging pinagpapala ang choir namin sa mga contests na tulad nito," beams Justine.

Although coming home late after every practice, Justine finds himself being able to manage his time for schoolwork and his love for singing. "Matulog lang nang maaga at saka stay away from sweets and menthol candies," he advises aspiring singers his age.

Padilla, a graduate of the UP Manila College of Music and now a concert pianist and cellist, have been training the multi-awarded choir since 1982.

"I feel fulfilled… This is the fruit of our sacrifice," she says after winning yet another trophy, adding another feather to the chorale’s cap, so to speak. She shares that she practices with the choir for a month everyday, after class hours.

Coming in as runner-up was the 28-strong School of the Holy Spirit, who interpreted "Go the Distance" from the animated movie "Hercules". They took home P10,000 prize money plus gift packs from the sponsors.

However, the rest of the non-winning groups did not go out of the theater empty-handed.

"Chorale music is one of the ways to unify the people," states Acoymo.

With those words, he gave out a total of P6,000 – P2,000 each for St. Therese College, Dominican College, and Central Colleges of the Philippines – as his personal donation."Sanay Wala Nang Wakas", another Sharon Cuneta hit from the movie of the same title; "Reflection" popularized by Lea Salonga and Christina Aguilera from the animated movie "Mulan"; and Carol Banawa’s "Tanging Yaman", also from the movie of the same title were heard from the said groups, respectively.

IN SUPPORT OF THE BRILLIANT BUT UNDERPRIVILEGED

"Our organization actually maintains the UP EcoSoc Scholarship Fund. We have been sending kids to school for over 20 years now. Some of our scholars were even present during the event," the organization’s vice president and Task Force chair John Lagdameo divulges.

But why a chorale competition like that?

"We hold one major fundraising event for our scholarship program every semester and each time we do one, we always try to do something new, something that we have not done yet," John answers. He relates that the idea of a musical event came up while they were planning for their fundraising event for the semester.

"We were initially thinking of holding a fun-run then an org fair then a documentary fest then finally, one of my team members raised the idea of holding a choral competition. [It] just clicked," John shares. "And since we all got excited with the idea of doing it, we just knew that this was it.

He jokingly says, "I think it was because we are all frustrated singers/entertainers in the team."

As for the impact of "group singing contest about movies" or the entirely musical event as a whole on the younger students, John hopes "it gave them a pretty good idea about the beauty and power of music."

"Some of the performances, including those of Hale and Cueshe, were really moving the crowd and I wish that those young people appreciated that," observes John, as he maintains, "I’m not saying that they should all try singing, I just hope that they all realized that there’s always a venue for them to express themselves and that [one] can always make [his or herself] heard."

And "Soundtrack" – a meeting of various sounds to create a sound minds and sound souls – was exactly what he was talking about.

"Also, since this event is for a very good cause, I hope that students were able to appreciate that young as they are, they can already help empower other young individuals through education," John concludes.