THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas (UST) Christmas Concert has been held annually since 2003, and the gala concert has now become a veritable Christmas tradition, a cultural event that kicks off the festive Yuletide season.

The concert principally brings together talented musicians from the faculty, students and alumni of the UST Conservatory of Music. Guest performers both local and foreign are also featured.

The concert is not only an occasion for the UST Conservatory community to display its talents. It is also an opportunity for the general alumni and music lovers to get into the Christmas spirit through the magic of classical music and the bravura of the performing arts.

This year, the UST Christmas Concert unfolded again as a grand production last Dec. 3 at the university’s chapel, the Santissimo Rosario Church. The concert featured singers and composite choral groups.

Leading the performers were the UST Singers and, of course, the UST Symphony Orchestra under professor Herminigildo Ranera.

The concert was almost two hours of enraptured listening!

Young tenors Frederick Angelo Maturan and Radnel Ofalsa forged a pleasant vocal collaboration together with the composite choirs from the university, Coro Tomasino and Liturgikon Vocal Ensemble, in rendering a medley of Bach’s “Jesu Joy” and Handel’s “Sing unto God,” arranged by Orlando de la Cruz.

Soprano Katrine Jamar Sunga rendered “A New Day Has Come,” arranged by Christian Derrick Atangan.

The mood for joyful listening was at once established.

Guest performers Mikaela Natasha Ley and Rafael Emmanuel Ley impressed the audience with their superb rendition of familiar pieces at the marimba.

The former displayed virtuosity in Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5, which she performed with aplomb.

Joining her was her nephew, Rafael Emmanuel, practically a toddler, and they rendered medleys from “The Sound of Music” and “Christmas Marimba,” arranged by Ariel Santa Ana.

Ranera gave full support at the podium, ensuring tight rapport that made the performance truly marvelous!

It was a grand moment of listening as the UST Symphony Orchestra displayed how its symphonic sound had, indeed, matured and achieved luster!

Having followed the orchestra’s career since the start, I am truly amazed at the transformation of the tonal sound it has gained lately: velvety strings and virile yet singing winds that make up a translucent, silken symphonic timbre.

Its rendition of “Christmas Medley” of two familiar songs, “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” and “God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen,” arranged by Jedrick Itugot, tugged at the heart with nostalgic joy.

Professor Ranera and the musicians played with gusto, relishing every note of the piece they played.

Stunning

As expected, the UST Singers rendered a stunning performance.

Now composed of new members, the multiawarded and internationally acclaimed choir is really stamped with choral director Fidel Calalang’s hallmark of choral excellence expressed in brilliant projection, sensitive blending, well-nuanced dynamics and articulate phrasing.

The UST Singers opened three songs with sterling vocal power.

In “Gloria Patri” by the Indonesian composer Budi Yohanes Susanto, the choir exuded the Asian flavor of the work. It was an effective opener to the choir’s suite of performances as the song’s conclusion elicited thunderous applause from the audience.

It was followed by “The Ground,” by Norwegian-American composer Ola Gjeillo, part of the composer’s “Sunrise Mass” that bears English title but carries Latin text. The piece is the setting of Agnus Dei that is scored in a hymn-like manner.

The choir tugged at the hearts of the listeners as it intoned the song in a prayerful manner.

Calalang sat on the keyboard for the choir’s final rendition— his arrangement “Happy Days/ Get Happy”—that elicited much appreciation from the audience.

As part of the university’s thrust for internationalization, Fr. Isidro C. Abaño, O.P., in his notes on the souvenir program, said the concert had always featured foreign performers.

This year, Russian violinist Yaroslava Poletaeva mesmerized the audience with her fine virtuosity in rendering Sarasate’s “Gypsy Airs.” She followed that up with the more familiar “Carol of the Bells.”

Korean lyric baritone Byeong-in Park, who is married to Filipino soprano Rachelle R. Gerodias, impressed the audience with a sparkling rendition of Bach’s “Grosser Herr (Christmas Oratorio).”

Previously, Gerodias had shown her renowned vocal prowess in Mozart’s “Hallelujah (Exultate Jubilate).”

Together, husband and wife delivered a tender duo in “Gesu Bambino-O Holy Night” medley.

Adding luster to the classical program was a rendition of a medley of pop songs by the Swedish supergroup ABBA. The “ABBA Christmas Medley” consisted of “I Had a Dream,” “I Believe in Angels” and “Thank You for the Music,” which later on segued to more traditional Christmas carols.

Toward the end, the audience joined the choirs and the orchestra in singing two immortal carols—“O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Joy to the World.”

The 2015 UST Christmas Concert was a joy to the world, indeed!