In the said finale, the contestants were tasked to perform one or two pieces of their own choice. The UST Singers likewise bested 30 choirs from 10 countries.

The España-based choir also snagged the first prize in the Mixed Choir category and the second prize in the Folk category.

UST Singers founder and conductor Prof. Fidel Calalang, Jr. led the UST Singers in this recent fete.

View the full results here: /

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Individual recognitions

As part of the University’s Quadricentennial celebration in 2011, Calalang was feted with the “Gawad Lorenzo Ruiz Award for International Achievements.” He also received the “Benavides Medal for Outstanding Achievement to the University” for his conducting role in the España-based chorale group and was inducted to the 100 Outstanding Thomasian Alumni who brought honor and glory to the University.

Outside the University, the Thomasian conductor also received prestigious awards and recognitions.

In the 4th Florence International Choir Festival, held in Italy in 2015, Calalang reaped the Grand Prize, as well as two special awards, namely the “Best Interpretation of the Required Piece” and the “Best Contemporary Choral Arrangement Prize” for his arrangement of Ennio Morricone’s “My Heart and I”, which was from the film La Piovre.

Moreover, Calalang was also one of the prize winners in the “2007 Mga Awiting Bayan Para sa Korong Pilipino”, a national choral writing contest organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

In 2002, he was awarded the “Best Conductor Prize” at the Tonen International Choral Competition in Netherlands and in 1999, he received the top award in the International Composition Competition in California for his 8-voiced work “Ama Namin” (Pater Noster). 

The UST Singers

Under his baton, Calalang has brought the UST Singers to over 30 international concert tours around the world. The group has also bagged more than 80 top prizes in different international choral competitions, including the Choir of the World Champion, the 2019 Choir of the World Champion of Champions, and 2017 Grand Prize at the Ave Verum International Choral Competition in Austria, among others.

During the pandemic, solidarity with the Covid-19 frontliners, the UST Singers alumni from around the globe performed Dodjie Simon’s “Isang Dugo, Isang Lahi, Isang Musika” (One bloodline, one race, one music) in a music video uploaded on April 23, 2020.

Calalang is the founder and conductor of the University of Santo Tomas Singers (UST Singers), a premiere mixed ensemble of the University.

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Regarded as one of the biggest and most popular competitions in Europe, it aims to continue the long traditions of singing and patronage of the habaneras, a unique musical tradition, as well as the performance of various high-caliber choral music from different genres. 

Calalang, who teaches at the UST , led the UST Singers in the same competition in 2010 winning the highest prize, the “Gran Premio de Habaneras,” as well as the “Premio Intercontinental,” for obtaining the highest scores in the habaneras and polyphony categories, and the special prize, “Premio del Publico.” The choir was again invited in the city of Torrevieja in 2012 for concerts and recently returned in July 2018 in the festival as guest artist formally opening the festival with their very own gala concert.

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Agpasa’s composition “Jubilate Deo” bested 59 other entries of 55 other applicants from 29 different countries. With a cash prize of $1,000, top prize winning work will be premiered at the 2019 BCFC to be held from October 16 to 19, 2019. The award ceremony will be held on the last day of the Choral Festival. 

The jury who evaluated the final eight submissions were composed of Philippine Madrigal Singers Choir Master Mark Anthony Carpio, Estonian Choral Association President Raul Talmar, American Choral Directors Association Executive Director Tim Sharp, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre Conservatory Choir Director Vytautas Miškinis, and 20 Trillion Production Korea President Young-Jo Lee.

Agpasa is also the current conductor of the UST Chorus of Arts and Letters. 

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Established in 1987, the annual Choir of the World competition has become one of the most respected accolades in the choral calendar with the winners receiving the prestigious Luciano Pavarotti trophy. Having been the only choir to win the coveted title twice, first in 1995 and second in 2010, the UST Singers has now bested 31 previous Choir of the World winners in the online voting campaign.

Among the competitors were: the New Zealand National Youth Choir, Akustika Chamber Singers from South Africa, Adelaide Chamber Choir from Australia, Estudio Coral Meridies from Argentina, the National University of Singapore Choir.

The online contest was held by Llangollen.tv, a subsidiary of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, to inaugurate the launch of their new on-demand streaming website for all the competitions and performances in the aforementioned global music festival. Aside from the renowned choral competition, other categories such as solo vocal performance and traditional dances are also included.

A statement on the UST Singers’ official Facebook page said, “We offer this victory to each and everyone of you who voted for and supported us! You made this achievement possible! Viva Santo Tomas! Mabuhay ang Korong Pilipino!”

The UST Singers is the premiere mixed choral ensemble of the University of Santo Tomas. It was founded in 1992 by Prof. Fidel Calalang, Jr., and is composed of students and alumni from the different faculties, colleges, and institutes of the University. In August 2018, the UST Singers became the first Filipino choir to perform at the historic Basilica de Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. The choir has represented the Philippines in 23 international choral competitions, garnering a total of 82 top prizes.

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This tribute is part of the preparations of the UST FMS for its sesquicentennial (150th) founding anniversary in 2021. One hundred fifty FMS alumni were recognized for their achievements in the fields of education, research, government service, medical societies, industry, and in public and private health sectors.

The UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery is the oldest Catholic medical school in the Philippines and remains one of the leading medical schools in the country. It is a Center of Excellence that contributes more than 400 new physicians annually and consistently produces medical board topnotchers. According to FMS Dean Ma. Lourdes D. Maglinao, M.D., MHPEd, the Faculty “is proud of not only the legacy it has left behind, but the legacy it continues to embed daily in every Thomasian medical learner, whom it taught, teaches, and will teach in the years to come.”

UST FMS has produced alumni who are renowned and respected in the field of Medicine here and abroad, such as Secretary of Health Francisco Duque III, M.D., and Belo Medical Group Director Victoria G. Belo, M.D.

Among those awarded were: former Senator and First Lady of the Philippines Hon. Luisa P. Ejercito M.D., of Class 1954; Ospital ng Makati Director Vergel P. Binay, M.D. (Class 1997); St. Luke’s Medical Center Quasha Memorial College of Medicine Legal Medicine Department Chair Atty. Antonio Alejandro D. Rebosa, M.D., (Class 1985); Chinese General Hospital College of Medicine Dean Normando C. Gonzaga, M.D. (Class 1976); American College of Surgeons – Philippine Chapter President Ray. B. Malilay, M.D. (Class 1980); The Medical City Augusto P. Sarmiento Cancer Institute Director Daniel M. Alonzo, M.D. (Class 1982); St. Luke’s Medical Center Medical Director Benjamin S. A. Campomanes, Jr., M.D., (Class 1985); Makati Medical Center Director Johnny B. Sinon, M.D. (Class 1982); and Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center Director Modesto O. Llamas, M.D. (Class 1965).

UST Secretary-General Rev. Fr. Jesús M. Miranda, Jr., O.P., in his opening remarks commended the awardees for embodying the Thomasian values of competence, commitment, and compassion in their practice as physicians, saying “You are the living witnesses to the University’s mission of serving the Church, the nation, and the global community.”

The Anargyroi: FMS Foundation, Inc. was introduced by Class 1967 alumnus Willie N. Lagdameo, M.D., a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. The Foundation supports the UST FMS by sustaining and aiding in its initiatives through the Regent’s Scholarship, community outreach, simulation center, research, student and faculty development programs.

Two-time Luciano Pavarotti Choir of the World awardee UST Singers performed, too, while at the onset of the program, the UST String Quartet also entertained the guests.

FMS Regent Rev. Fr. Angel A. Aparicio, O.P., in his closing remarks, expressed his joy in the reconnection of the alumni gathered, inviting them to “please show support to [FMS’] endeavors, join us in counting down [to the 150th anniversary celebration], and keep in touch.”

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