Embassy of the Philippines
London
Under the auspices of The Philippine Centre, the Saringhimig Singers will be performing at the Paul Robeson Theatre, Treaty Centre, High Street, Hounslow, on Wednesday 7 July 2004 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets at £10 / £7 concessions at the box office, 0845 456 2840. Nearest tube station: Hounslow Central.
PRESS RELEASE: 25 June 2004
Saringhimig Singers to perform in London and Wales
"The Philippine choir, Saringhimig is the most beautiful choir I've ever heard.”
This was the comment of Javier Cameno, general director of Europa Cantat and international director of World Choir Festivals, upon hearing the music of the Philippine Saringhimig Singers in Puebla, Mexico in 2003.
The group, which is based in San Francisco, USA, will be performing in London on July 7 at the Paul Robeson Theatre in Hounslow before proceeding to Llangollen in north Wales to participate in the Eisteddfod, the prestigious annual international music festival that draws the best chorales from all over the world. They will be competing in the Folk Choir and Chamber Choir categories.
Saringhimig is a combination of two words: "saring" which means "magical wings," and "himig" which means "song". Since they got together in 1974, the members have all shown a strong dedication to the group as well as to one another. Having incorporated the rigorous rehearsal and performance schedule into our lives, the Saringhimig Singers consider themselves as much a big family as a choral group. The uniqueness and magic of this group is due to its director and founder, George Hernandez.
In 1974, Hernandez and a group of students from the University of the Philippines College of Music banded together to form an exemplary chamber chorus. In 1979, when the group was only five years old, they went on their first Northern American and European Concert Tour, winning many awards. In the 27th Concorso Polifonico Internationale, at Guido d' Arezzo in Italy, not only did Saringhimig Singers win first place, they also won the hearts of European critics and audiences as well.
After a successful 1979 tour, the Saringhimig Singers embarked on three more international concert tours in 1980, 1981 and 1983, garnering major awards, including Grand Prize, Lehiateka Certamen Cancion y Polifonica Vascas in Tolsa Spain (1980); Third Prize, Llangollen International Music Competition, Eisteddfod, North Wales, UK (1980); and Top Prize, XXIX Concorso Polifonica Internationale, "Guido d' Arezzo", Arezzo Italy (1981). In 1983, Saringhimig Singers became the famed Camerata Singers, staging their debut at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.
The current group of singers reorganized in San Francisco in 1991 as the Saringhimig Society for the Performing Arts. Under the musical direction of George Hernandez, the group returned to Europe and participated in the International Choral Festival in Puig-Reig, Catalunya, Spain (1994), and the Choral Tour of Germany (1996), performing in local cities such as Frankfurt, Dietzenbach, Ebingen, Trier and Hamburg. Since 1996, the Saringhimig Singers have given concerts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2003, the choir participated in the International Choral Festival in Puebla, Mexico.
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