A night of golden songs and memories.
On 25 September 2021, the U.P. Cherubim & Seraphim, together with the U.P. Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts, celebrated the group’s golden anniversary with a virtual concert entitled “Aurea Carmina,” featuring 5 decades of UPCS, with guest artists Joey Ayala, Lynn Sherman, Robin Rivera, Maestro Ryan Cayabyab and more!
A message from U.P. Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo on our 50th year
I was in grade school in U.P. when the U.P. Cherubim & Seraphim (UPCS) was formed in 1971. Watching our school choir perform for the first time, I secretly wished that I was a Cherubim too, like some of my friends. Over the years I have watched countless performances of the UPCS and have seen it grow and shape the musical talents of several generations of children.
The UPCS has been home to many of you through the decades, for some, under the guidance of your founder, Flora Zarco Rivera. Your golden anniversary gathers many of those voices who still fondly remember their time with the choir. This a chance to reconnect with mentors and peers who made an impact on their youth. Your collaboration with National Artists and many brilliant musicians has given members access to a wide range of material to develop their craft. There have also been opportunities through the years to share the gift of singing with communities all over the country and in other places around the world.
The past year has compelled the performing arts to thrive and evolve, as we have seen in light of this pandemic. We have had to rely on video conferencing and social media to see the shows or concerts that we would have previously enjoyed outdoors or at Abelardo Hall. It seems that we will have to wait a bit longer for the chance to be absorbed amid live singing and music once again. We look forward to the day when we can hear your voices live and witness your performance on stage—but in the meantime, we can cherish the joy of watching and replaying your programs online, including your virtual concert “Aurea Carmina” which commemorates this occasion.
Congratulations to Director Emeritus Elena Rivera Mirano, the alumni, members and staff of UPCS for your dedication to children and music in the last fifty years.
Opening Words
Dr. Elena Rivera Mirano
Director Emeritus, UPCS
Sa Mahal Kong Bayan
Erste Stimmen, the first voices of the U.P. Cherubim & Seraphim, (Batch 1970s) and Daybreak (Batch 1980s), offer Lucio San Pedro’s soaring anthem “Sa Mahal Kong Bayan” that sings of the beauty and nobility of the Philippines, the land we call our home. As we sing together again for the golden anniversary of the UPCS, we rededicate our efforts to serve the nation and its people in song.
Sa Dakong Sikatan
Dr. Jose Rizal wrote the poem, “En El Bello Oriente” while he was in exile from the Philippines. It is about a person’s loneliness when separated from home and family and native land. “Sa Dakong Sikatan” is Rizal’s own translation of the poem into Tagalog. Today, UPCS Batch 2021 dedicates this version of the song with music by composer Eudenice Palaruan to all our countrymen who have, because of the hardships we still suffer, been forced to go out into the world for the sake of their families, but who long to return to their Inang Bayan.
What was your most memorable Cherubim tour or concert?
Greetings
Dr. Ramon Pagayon Santos
National Artist for Music
Dr. La Verne Dela Peña
Dean, U.P. College of Music
Manong Pawikan
The Pawikan is a giant sea turtle, endangered and endemic to the Philippines. Pawikan is also the term given to dispossessed people, who have no place to call home. The song is a lyrical conversation between a child and the majestic turtle. The creature is weighed down by its baggage, yet it manages to swim lightly and gracefully in the ocean. The child asks the turtle, “What is the way to make a heavy thing light?” The moving response of the turtle is a musical one, found in the cross melodies that bring up images of creatures as they play amidst the waves and currents of the seas. UPCS alumni batches Matag Lakang (UPCS 2000s) and Jeunes Voix (UPCS 2010s), along with poet and composer Joey Ayala, and arranger Nhick Pacis, dedicate this song to the rivers, lakes, seas and oceans of the Philippines and all the creatures that dwell within its boundaries.
Nais Ko
This classic Ryan Cayabyab song, with its spirited tempo and upbeat melody is reworked in an arrangement specially crafted for Gossamer Wings (UPCS 1990s) by our outstanding alumna, Annie Roque-Nepomuceno. Robin Rivera, our drummer since 1971, accompanies the group on this occasion. Lynn Sherman, also an alumna, lends her iconic voice to the group as it expresses the wild hopes, passionate dreams and fervent aspirations of the young in a time of great change.
UPCS Alumni Foundation Launch
Dr. Aura Castillo Matias
UPCS Founding Member
What was your first UPCS song?
The Trout
Franz Schubert's "La Forelle" (The Trout) is one of the very first songs taught to the Apprentices of the U.P. Cherubim & Seraphim. This classic tale of the battle of wiles between a fish and a fisherman leads the singer to reflect on the relationship between man and the natural world around him.
Looking to the Future
Alyssa Liyana Dioquino
Associate Director, UPCS
Bata ang Bukas
The composer leads us on the piano as we sing “Bata ang Bukas,” Rene Villanueva and National Artist Ryan Cayabyab’s jewel of a song about hope and new beginnings. Krina Cayabyab, a third generation member of a family of U.P. musicians, arranges “Bata ang Bukas” on the occasion of our 50th anniversary. With this song, the U.P. Cherubim & Seraphim and its alumni set our sights forward in time, celebrating the child and the promise of the future.
Maligayang Bati
Among the Tagalogs of the Philippines, the 'asalto' is a tradition where friends and family surprise a birthday celebrant, arriving at his or her doorstep to greet the celebrant with songs, food and gifts. Five decades of U.P. Cherubim & Seraphim celebrate its foundation with the asalto, “Maligayang Bati” (Happy Greetings) by National Artist, Felipe Padilla de Leon.
