A chorus thrives amidst turmoil

DELACERNA

I entered UP Cebu in 1974 as a young teacher in the UP Cebu High School. There was only the administration building where we held classes in the second floor and the basement of the building alternating with the undergraduate students during the day and the graduate students in the evening.

The high school office, faculty room and principal’s office were on the right side of the ground floor of the admin building.

The other buildings were the old clinic and the undergraduate office at the back of the administration building and the dilapidated bungalow house which served as the practical arts room and HE room for the high school students across the basketball court.

Programs were held at the porch of the right side of the administration building or sometimes in the basketball court. Fortunately, a Multipurpose Hall was built across the admin building in 1975.

At that time there was a felt need of having a full time dean and I remember in 1975 then UP President Salvador Lopez visited the campus and announced the appointment of a new dean, a full time dean in the person of Dr. Nestor Nisperos who was previously assigned in UP Tacloban.

But things did not go well with the new dean and the faculty and some staff members and a feud was brewing in the campus. There was a faction among the faculty and staff. The feud culminated in 1979 when the dean was recalled and another dean was being considered.

Amidst the brewing chaos in the campus, a group of faculty, students and staff who loved music and who loved to sing banded together to form what would be known as the UP College Cebu Mixed Chorus and December 20, 1976 was its birthday. It was initiated by Mr. Victoriano Lecaros, a graduate of Broadcast Communication from UP Diliman and the former president of the famous UP Concert Chorus.

Together with Prof. Rosette Lerias, they pioneered the Mass Communications Program of UP Cebu. The idea of forming a choral group came about in 1976 when UP Cebu initiated and hosted the “First Policy Conference” and a group of faculty members rendered a few songs for the intermission at the Casino Español. It did not take long to recruit thirty-eight members: ten (10) faculty members, four (4) administrative staff, and twenty-four (24) students including one high school student.

Vic or Palitoy as he was fondly called was the trainor and conductor, Agnes Brigoli-Ducao was associate conductor and pianist.

We had two excellent pianists, Elaine Ruiz-Teleron, and Gina Ylaya. Agnes was with us only for the Debut Concert for she left for abroad with her family.

For the smooth running of the group, Vic appointed me as administrator, section leader from each voice, and a librarian for the safe keeping of our musical pieces. Mrs. Virginia Davide who was a member of the group and the late Prof. Antonio Alvarez, then the college secretary were our business managers.

There was no piano, so we used to rehearse at the residence of Chief Justice Davide at Gemsville which was a short distance from the campus and later borrowed the piano of Prof. Lydia Ybañez and stationed it at the second floor of the admin building. In preparation for the Debut Concert, I also had to borrow the piano of my uncle with the condition of tuning and varnishing it.

Christmas 1976 we went caroling and we were able to purchase a Trebel piano after our Debut Concert. 1977 was a very productive year for the Mixed Chorus. We had a Debut Concert on February 25-26, 1977 at the UP College Cebu Multi-Purpose Hall which used to stand where the Cebu Cultural Center now stands.

The first night was for the UP community night while the second was the gala night. The Mixed Chorus performed another presentation before the Philippine Ambassadors at the Magellan Hotel poolside (which used to be at the back of Asilo de la Milagrosa) on March 5, 1977. On April 16, 1977, The UP College Cebu Mixed Chorus sang A Musical Anthology at the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion Auditorium.

The same Musical Anthology was brought to the Argao Parish Church on May 29, 1977 through the courtesy of the Sister Regina Circle of the Daughters of Isabella of Argao, Cebu.

To describe the group and the concert, Vic Lecaros wrote in the programme notes: “We are as diverse a collection of individuals as the UP College Cebu can provide; brought together only by our talent in, and love for, singing — emphasis on the latter.

Yet we are one in our desire to attain perfection in our art; and to eventually bring that art beyond the confines of our Lahug campus — in keeping with our University’s community-oriented outlook.

The Programme itself comes from diverse sources. Therefore we have blended the chant, the lullaby, the serenade, the Negro spiritual into one coherent whole as we did with ourselves — for music, indeed, is a universal language. We know you speak our language.”

The group continued its activities until 1978 because Vic Lecaros left for UP Diliman to pursue his masteral degree in Philippine Studies which would prepare him for his ambassadorial assignments in several countries such as Texas, Indonesia, China, Singapore, and Malaysia.

The last performance of the UP College Cebu Mixed Chorus was in 1979 at the wedding of former Governor Gwendolyn Garcia through the invitation of her brother Byron, who was a graduate of UP High at that time and a fan of the Mixed Chorus.

Before we separated, I asked each member to write their impressions and experiences with the Mixed Chorus. Fe Anastacia Reyes summarizes it all when she wrote : “What made working with the Mixed Chorus highly satisfying?

People who love to sing; knowing that we were doing some “pioneering” at UP College Cebu; realizing that to strive to produce something excellent was not an obsolete exercise; noting the refinement in our “products” after the rehearsals; and working with individuals from UP’s many departments.”

And all these the UP College Cebu Mixed Chorus achieved while the campus was in chaos.