JEMIL AUSTIN M. LACSONAustin joined MedChoir back in 2018, serving as the trainee head of MedChoir Trainee Batch 30. With his extensive experience training and competing with the University of the Philippines Rural High School Glee Club, he has found his artistic passion in choral music and singing. Throughout his stay with the choir, he has served several positions in the choir’s Executive Committee, namely, Library Head, Internals Head (AY 2020-2021) and President (AY 2021-2022). Musically, he was appointed as Assistant Choirmaster and Tenor Head in AY 2021-2022.
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Hans Joren L. Bondoc, MDBefore he joined MedChoir, he was part of a church choir and, for a while, his school choir at the Philippine Science High School.
He joined the choir in 2015 as a Tenor 1. From A.Y. 2018-2019 to A.Y. 2019-2020, he served as the choir’s Internals and Membership Head. In 2019, he did not only move from Tenor 1 to Alto 2, but he was also appointed as the Assistant Choirmaster. He then led as the Choirmaster in 2021 until he graduated the next year in 2022. |
Geremiah Edison Daniel C. Llanes, MDGeremiah joined the choir as a Tenor 2 in 2015. From A.Y. 2016-2017 to A.Y. 2017-2018, he served as the Membership Committee Head. He became the choir’s tenor head from A.Y. 2017-2018 until A.Y. 2018-2019. In 2018, he was also appointed as the Assistant Choirmaster. By A.Y. 2019-2020, he started his tenure as Choirmaster.
During his tenure as choirmaster, Geremiah led the choir as it moved to a virtual platform due the COVID-19 pandemic. He spearheaded various virtual choir projects throughout the pandemic, culminating with “Hiling,” the choir’s very first virtual year-end concert. |
Maryam Amparo C. Remoto, MDMaryam joined the UP MedChoir as Alto I in 2012 after hearing the choir sing in the college opening ceremonies. After two years, she served as library committee head before becoming the choir's Alto section head in 2015. She was also appointed as assistant choirmaster in that same year. By 2016, she started her tenure as the Choirmaster, successfully conducting the choir in various performances, both local and international.
Recently, she led the choir through the 7th Bali International Choral Festival held in Bali, Indonesia last July 2018. The choir went home with four Gold Medals: a Gold IV medal in the Mixed Youth competition, a Gold VI medal in the Musica Sacra competition, and two Gold medals for the championship rounds of both categories. |
Jasper Gerald Cubias, MD
Jasper developed an early inclination to music. He started piano lessons when he was seven and has been fond of studying pieces of different genres on his own ever since. It was not until his years in Philippine Science High School, however, that he was exposed to choral music.
Upon entering the UP College of Medicine in 2009, Jasper joined the UP MedChoir as a bass and was known to consistently lead his group to becoming the best in the quartet exams. He participated in the Madrigal Singers’ CCP choral workshop in 2010 with the UP MedChoir. Eventually Jasper led his class in the college’s annual chorale competition, Tao Rin Pala, where he not only served as the conductor but also as the composer and arranger of their songs for three years. Under his leadership, his class won Best Performance in 2012 for their song “Para sa Mag-aaral ng Medisina,” and bagged the championship in 2013, with their song “Bukas Natin.” Appointed as the Bass Section Head and Assistant Choirmaster in 2013, Jasper was subsequently made the acting Choirmaster during the Christmas season of the same year. He successfully led the choir through the annual ward caroling and the preparation for an upcoming concert in March 2014, at which he was appointed the new Choirmaster. He led the group through its successful participation in the Orientale Concentus VIII in Singapore, where the UP MedChoir received a Silver Grade II Diploma for its efforts. Jasper continues to aspire for even greater heights for the choir and hopes to help the choir members grow beyond the limits that they currently know. |
Anne L. Barraquio, MD
Anne started reading notes at the age of 3 and taking piano lessons at the age of 5. A scholar of the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA), she won second prize in the 3rd Rosario Picazo Piano competition. Her notable performances as a concert pianist include a solo recital at the CCP Little Theater and a solo concert as part of the Paco Park Presents series. Upon graduation, Anne received PHSA’s Outstanding Artist for Music Award and was one of the school’s nominees for the Makiling Academe and Research Institute for the Arts (MARIA) Scholarship Award.
During her 4-year high school scholarship, Anne was also a member (Alto 1) of Musika Ibarang, the school’s resident choir. Upon entering college, Anne also joined Himig UPLB for one year as a soprano. As an accompanist, she also collaborated with the UP Los Baños Choral Ensemble under Mr Rommel Lomarda during her undergraduate years in UP Los Baños. She continues to teach piano to students of all ages and skill levels in her spare time. Anne joined the UP MedChoir in 2009 as a soprano and was one of three new trainees selected for the competing group at the CCP Choral Competition. She served as trainee head for the 2009-2010 season and as the Training Officer for 2010-2011, shepherding the current trainee batch through their first quartet exams, concerts, and caroling. In the summer of 2010 she undertook further voice training under the UP College of Music Extension Program. During the October 2010 Madrigal Singers' CCP choral workshop she served admirably as acting choirmaster. She was then appointed Assistant Choirmaster and Choirmaster in early 2011. |
Ginoo Karlo M. Galvez Tan, MD
"GK" Galvez Tan took his first steps into the world of choral music as a bass with Dulaang Sibol in the Ateneo High School, learning firsthand under the direction of Dr Onofre Pagsanghan about the power and beauty of human voices singing together.
He continued to sing with various groups big and small in college and beyond, notably with the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus for a semester and a half of traineeship and with Kinema, an all-male chorus based in Ateneo. In 2007, he and three like-minded friends founded Heartsong, a piano, voice, and flute quartet, where he continues to serve as music director. In UP Diliman and through the first half of medical life, he took further studies in voice with the UP College of Music extension program. He then trained as a lyric baritone for five years with the noted music critic Dr Antonio Hila, to whom GK credits his greatest vocal growth. His first serious brush as the leader of a choral group was for the annual Tao Rin Pala inter-class choral competition in the UP College of Medicine. Serving as arranger and conductor for three years, he twice led Class 2009 to victory with their songs “Buhay Medisina” (in 2005) and “Salamat” (in 2006). After this, he studied conducting under Jonathan Velasco at the Asian Institute of Liturgical Music. GK joined the UP MedChoir in 2004 and was around for some of the busiest and most interesting years of the choir. He was part of the first European Goodwill Tour group and the contingent sent to the 4th World Choir Games in Xiamen, China. He served as finance officer, bass section head, and assistant choirmaster before succeeding to the choirmastership in late 2009. |
Jose Carlo E. Ongchangco, MD“Caloy”, or “Cal”, as he is more well-known in the choir, began his musical life when he first learned how to hit middle C on the piano. Under the guidance of a private teacher, his fingers soon began exploring a wider range of musical tones. In his fifteen years of playing the piano he has dabbled in a lot genres: classical, pop, jazz, and new age. Interested in pursuing this instrument further, he enrolled in a summer extension class at the University of the Philippines College of Music, where he also took sessions in playing the saxophone as dictated by a lifelong wish to learn more about what he considers to be a romantic instrument.
Caloy was introduced to the world of choirs and choral music upon arriving at the UP College of Medicine in 2001 and joining the UP Medicine Choir in 2002. Further encouraged by the choirmaster, he took up summer extension classes in voice and conducting at the UP College of Music. In addition, he received training in choral conducting under Jonathan Velasco at the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music in 2006 and 2007, as well as joined the choral workshop held by the Philippine Madrigal Singers in October 2008. He has also participated in the National Master Class Series for Choral Conductors held in Baguio, April 2009, by the Philippine Choral Directors Association, of which he is a member. Caloy eventually began to show interest in choral arranging and like a child exploring a wide and unfamiliar forest, he tried making some arrangements with the encouragement of former MedChoir choirmasters Rico Romano and Alex Drilon. One of his arrangements, “This Guy’s in Love With You, Pare”, had been included in the Jam88.3 a capella CD (The Blend) and had hit number one in the charts. Aside from UP MedChoir, Caloy has also conducted his class in the annual Tao Rin Pala inter-year level choral competition. In 2004, during the centennial year of the college, he and his classmates enter an original choral piece entitled “Isang Daan” and with the grace of God and the help of friends, he conducted his class, who brought home the championship. In July 2006, the choir traveled to Xiamen, China, in order to compete in the 4th World Choir Olympics, where they garnered two gold diplomas and two silver medals. Their recent international endeavor (April-May 2008) involved a goodwill tour to the United States of America, particularly San Francisco, Michigan, New Jersey-New York, Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas. |
Alexander Edward C. Drilon, MD
Born with the heart of a performer, Alexander Edward Drilon has lived most of his life against the backdrop of musical theatre. His exposure to the performing arts began at an early age, frequenting rehearsals at the National Arts Center of the Philippines in Laguna and hanging out backstage for various performances at the CCP under he guidance of his grandmother, Mercedes L. Drilon, then ballet mistress of the NAC. ‘Music first came to me through dance, and although I may never hope to approximate lola’s skill in this medium, I think I may have found a way to approximate lola’s skill in this medium, I think I may have found a way to do justice to her legacy in her legacy in another form...’
Indeed, at the age of fifteen, Alex made his debut in professional theatre as Billy Ray in Repertory Philippines’ first production of On Golden Pond. Having found his passion for the stage, he quickly moved on to become a founding member of the amateur theatre company ‘Stage FX’ in 1994, under which he is credited for directing and performing in several theatrical works, including Once in this Island, The Fantasticks, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Pippin, Star Spangled Girl, and Little Shop of Horrors. His college years saw a return to the professional scene, again with the Repertory Philippines (Canterbury Tales), but this time, with the offer to begin teaching musical theatre in 1997, which he took up for four straight years thereafter, handling classes for both children and young adults. His curiosity for choral singing began in 1998 with the decision to begin training with the UP Singing Ambassadors under Ed Manguiat. ‘I never thought I would eventually move into a totally different art form, complete with its own rules and complexities. All I knew was that singing was something that I loved to do, but singing in a choir was something that I would just try out.’ The following year, Alex earned his degree as Bachelor of Science in Biology (graduating Magna Cum Laude) at the UP Diliman, and decided (after a lot of hesitancy, he claims) to pursue a career in Medicine. He joined the UP Medchoir in 1999 under the tutelage of Dr. Rico Romano, M. D., the former choirmaster, whose position he assumed in July of 2002. ‘Being asked to take over the choirmastership was a big ordeal. Having had to learn and re-learn many aspects of the art not emphasized in the musical theatre was a musical challenge. I am extremely grateful for my friends in the group who helped pull me through it all.' |
Rico Vincent M. Romano, MD
Rico Vincent M. Romano began his foray into choral music as an organist for Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal National Shrine Parish Church. Soon after, he organized a youth choir that sang for Sunday morning mass and feast days. He earned his degree in Biology from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, with a brief traineeship with the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus. His love for choral music was deepened when he sang bass for the UP Manila Chorale, then under Philippine Madrigal Singer alumnus Allan Puno. With his combined experience as a chorister and a conductor, he joined the UP Med Choir and ascended to the position of choirmaster for the UP Manila Choralfest in December 1998. In February 1999, he led the revitalized MedChoir to their first concert “Heart Sounds” at the Class 1972 Theater. Several months later, the choir staged its first concert outside the UP-PGH campus, “Magsimula Ka” at the Philamlife Theatre. The rest, they say, is history.
His tenure as choirmaster marked a rebirth of the UP MedChoir into one of the most active student organizations of the College of Medicine, culminating in being awarded the “Gawad ng Dekano” in 2001. MedChoir’s repertoire expanded – encompassing renaissance madrigals, Romatic-era part-songs, contemporary and 21st century music, and Filipino folksongs and OPM, in addition to commissioning now-famous arrangements from Robert Delgado, Christopher Borela, and Eudenice Palaruan. Perhaps his most important contribution was planting the seeds of the UPMedChoir continuing as an institution. Rico completed his residency in Internal Medicine from the University of Cincinnati, and is now practicing General Internal Medicine in the Pacific Northwest. Unable to shake the choral singing bug, he now sings tenor with the Bellingham Chamber Chorale, an auditioned community chorus. |
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