The CLSU Maestro Singers once more exhibited their impeccable talents in the global scale at the recently concluded Virtual Choir Competition in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Changwon Initiative. The choir was hailed as the winner and sets to receive a 1,000,000 KRW cash prize from the Minister of the Korea Forest Service Award.
With the purpose to combat desertification and restore degraded lands and forests, the Changwon Initiative, Korea Forest Service, and United Nations Convention hosted the global Virtual Choir Competition and Video Contest categories. At the same time, it highlights the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 15: Life on Land.
The choir’s winning pieces were Paraiso, the free choice piece, a song composed by Ryan Cayabyab (National Artist for Music) and arranged by Christopher Borela, and the compulsory piece, born from the Land, the UNCCD Land Anthem, composed by Ricky Kej and arranged by Alexander Louis F. Ibarra.
The choir's perfect balance of musical presentation (rhythm, phrasing, and expression), relevance to the theme (for the additional free choice song), technical skills, communication of the message, and voice quality, captured the heart of the judges.
As part of the competition process, on April 17, the CLSU Maestro Singers uploaded their performances to its YouTube Channel using the hashtags
#KoreanKoreanForestService,
#ChangwonInitiative,
#UNCCD,
#WFCKorea, and
#OneTrillionTrees.
The winners were announced on May 16, 2022, during the anniversary ceremony of the initiatives at the 15th Session of the Conference of Parties of the UNCCD in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Opportunity never slips into the hands of the determined individuals or groups that are honed with support, purpose, and goals to achieve. With this, it is a testament that the University continues to bolster its talents, not only in academia and research but also in extracurricular undertakings.
As of the writing, the video of their performance has reached 23,000 views on YouTube.
To watch the CLSU Maestro Singers entry, follow this link https://youtu.be/KTYFD3_dt7U
