Sunday, September 26, 2010

All-American choir sings like Pinoys


By Edson C. Tandoc Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

COLUMBIA, Missouri—They sashayed, swayed their hips and flashed their sweetest smiles. And they even had the right “p”and “t” sounds.

Filipinos were amazed at how an all-American choir performed the Filipino folk songParu-ParongBukid” with flourish, sounding every bit like Filipino singers.

The video-recorded performance by American college students of Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville has been going around on YouTube and Facebook, shared and reposted by thousands of Filipino viewers.

The young members of the choir Madraliers appeared to be having fun singing an old native song they probably never heard growing up.

The video, which runs for less than three minutes, shows a group of young men in black coats and young women in colorful gowns dancing as they sang “Paru-parong Bukid,” complete with the proper accent and pronunciation.

The Madraliers, composed of mostly music majors in the school, sang the folk song in two concerts in November last year: on campus and at the Liberty United Methodist Church in Liberty, Missouri.

Big YouTube hit

But the video gained popularity among Filipino Internet users only this month.
“When I originally posted the song, I did not know it would become such a big hit,” said Andrew Sanders, one of the choir members.

But another YouTube user reposted the video just early this month—and has gotten close to a 100,000 views since then.

“It just shows the power of music, being able to bring people together,” said Sanders, who has also been getting e-mails praising their performance. “It also shows that the hard work our choir does is appreciated.”

Learning the song was fun, Sanders recalled. “We wanted to get as close to having a correct accent as possible, and since we have had so many comments on how good our diction was, I believe we have achieved that goal.”

Exuberant, refreshing

“I find the style of the music exuberant, refreshing and enjoyable to hear,” said choir conductor Brian Lanier.

“I was immediately intrigued by the interesting use of the language, the harmonic structure, and the humor of the text.”

This is the first time that Lanier, an associate professor of the university’s choral music education, taught his choir a song from the Philippines.

Lanier came across the folk song from a collection of pieces he got from a publisher last year, and got a translation of the lyrics.

He got help from the wife of his accompanist Richard Boettner in teaching his choir members the correct way of singing the song. Boettner’s wife Bing is a Filipino who hails from Bacolod City.

“I invited her to come and help me with the language as well as share some insight into the song and its meaning,” Lanier said.

Lanier recorded Bing speaking the lyrics line by line. He rehearsed the song with his choir members for several weeks and when he felt they were ready, he invited Bing back to hear the result.

Bing, a registered nurse, has been living with her husband Richard in Missouri since 1988 after they got married in the Philippines.

Correct dance steps

She grew up knowing the folk song by heart so she also helped in teaching the Madraliers the correct dance steps.

Sanders recalled: “She showed us a lot about the song as far as interpretation goes, with the original dance moves that she learned when she was a little girl singing the song.”

Bing recalled dancing the song as a student in the Philippines.

“Just the mention of the song brought back many pleasant memories of childhood and school days,” Bing said. “I grew up with it. It was also part of our music class.”

Bing focused on teaching the American choir members the Filipino way to pronounce the “p” and “t” sounds. The bigger challenge, however, was how to make the American students sway as gracefully as Filipinos would dance normally and effortlessly.

Hard work

Her hard work paid off: “I listened to them sing during practice and also during one of the performances. They did sound like Filipino singers.”

Those who saw the live performance enjoyed the song, too. Many of those who watched last year’s concert were musicians themselves, but Lanier said they “were very enthusiastic and they enjoyed the actions and the humor in the song.”

Lanier is particularly interested in exploring music from other cultures. He usually includes a song or two from other countries in his choir’s yearly repertoire.

He said: “I believe that through the study of music we can gain insight into the heart and soul of people from other countries.”

So what did “Paru-parong Bukid” tell him about the Filipino culture?

“I think the Philippine people have a wonderful sense of humor,” Lanier said. “They are not afraid to laugh at themselves. They can write beautiful music and appreciate life.”

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Published in Philippine Daily Inquireer Sept. 26, 2010.

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