‘Tis the season to be jolly—as one community together!
In a concert that unites all eight constituent units (CUs) in the University of the Philippines (UP) System, the UP Symphony Orchestra (UPSO) presents “Tanging Araw Nating Pinakamimithi,” premiering on Wednesday, 12.22.21 at 7 pm.
Since its official launch in 2018, the UPSO has hosted free annual Christmas concerts for the UP community. These concerts have always been a time to feature and celebrate performing groups in various UP campuses but were typically only accessible to those who could travel to the Diliman campus in Quezon City. In 2020, however, after shifting to online, blended performances, the orchestra expanded its reach and included the UP community throughout the entire country in their celebrations.
This year, the orchestra will perform with the UP Madrigal Singers, the UP Concert Chorus, the UP Dance Company, and the UP Engineering Choir from the Diliman campus; the UP Los Baños Choral Ensemble from the Los Baños campus; the UP Manila Chorale and UP MedChoir from the Manila campus; the UP Serenata from UP Cebu; the UP High School in Iloilo Harana Choir of the UP Visayas campus; and the UP Mindanao Koro Kantahanay.
The campus participants are UP Baguio Chancellor Corazon L. Abansi; UP Open University Chancellor Melinda dP. Bandalaria; UP Los Baños Chancellor Jose V. Camacho, Jr.; UP Visayas Chancellor Clement C. Camposano; and UP President Danilo L. Concepcion. If you are curious about what these leaders of our campuses and the UP System will be doing, you will have to watch the concert to find out.
For the first time in its history, the orchestra is proud to feature every UP constituent unit together in one concert—arguably the first show featuring performances from all campuses across the UP System.
But wait, there’s more! This holiday concert will feature not one but two symphony groups! Joining the UPSO on the virtual stage is the Kuwerdas Filipinas Symphonic Rondalla. A result of more than 15 years of international rondalla festivals in the country, the Kuwerdas Filipinas Symphonic Rondalla was set to launch in 2020 when all plans were put on a halt by the pandemic.
Times have been challenging and may continue to be so, but if we stand together and have some fun while doing it, this “new” normal will soon transition into a “better” normal.
“Tanging Araw Nating Pinakamimithi” premieres on the palindromic 12.22.21 at 7 pm on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
