By Dennis Abrina/PNA
GENERAL TRIAS CITY, Cavite — A jubilant chorus greeted the Choral Team Melodic Symphony Children’s Choir (MSCC) of San Vicente Ferrer Parish in Manggahan, General Trias City as it brought home three gold trophies from the 16th Malaysian Choral Eisteddfod (MCE) International Choral Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
In an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Friday, MSCC Group of Conductress Jhoan Luna Ayos expressed elation over her group’s winning gold in three categories — Teenage Category, Equal Voices (Female) Category and Folklore Category.
Ayos said the GenTri children’s chorale slugged it out with around 80 competing choral teams and bested choral teams from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore during the choral competitions at the Performing Arts Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last November 11.
For bringing home the bacon, the choral conductress said that her GenTri choir bested 12 contenders in the Teenage Group; best from among seven Equal Voices (All Female) choral competitors from Malaysia and Indonesia, while besting 15 other teams in the musical fest under the Folklore Music category.
“This was just a dream a year ago. An impossible dream, because most of the members came from poor families but because of hard work, faith, and support from our families, our church and our government, we were able to reach this dream,” Ayos said in an interview.
GenTri’s church-based children’s chorale has 28-members comprised of Grade 11 students and some GenTri resident members of the choir.
The kids represented our country well. They are well commended by internationally-acclaimed conductors and have been invited again to join a choir competition in Bali, Indonesia. We are very, very thankful to those who helped us in this journey. This is a memory that will be forever treasured by the kids,” Ayos remarked.
The gold prize-winning children’s chorale arrived Nov. 13 and received a rousing welcome from the church-based congregation and GenTri officials and city folks, who feted them as another GenTri’s pride.
Ayos is a lease analyst professional at a Bonificacio Global City firm and has been the church choral team’s conductress since March 2013. She is also a member of the Dasmariñas Chamber Singers.
“This was our first international competition and yet we won three gold awards, maraming maraming salamat po sa lahat ng sumuporta sa amin para makapag-compete sa choral competition na ito (thank you so much for all those who supported us to compete in this choral competition),” she said.
