Like a choir of a thousand angels.
The world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers, also known as the Madz, filled the Inquirer offices with their sweet, angelic voices in a live concert broadcast on the internet early this month.
Singing from the Inquirer’s storied spiral staircase, the Madz had the staff when the basses and tenors dropped their first “Gloria, Gloria.”
The group opened with sacred songs and gospel music—“Gloria, Laus et Honor” by Jude Edgard Balsamo, “My Life in You” by Arnold Zamora and the Catholic faithful favorite, “I Will Sing Forever” by Manoling Francisco, SJ.
The intimate, private concert at the Inquirer went live on Facebook, the platform that drew the biggest number of viewers from different points of the world.
LIVE The Philippine Madrigal Singers perform before some 200,000 listeners via Facebook. —ARNOLD ALMACEN
Choirmaster Mark Anthony Carpio, who led the Madz into achieving their second European Grand Prix for Choral Singing in 2007, said the performance for the online audience was an exciting first for the group.
“During the performance, we really had no idea how many people were watching us, though we were quite sure our families and relatives were online,” Carpio told the Inquirer.
The Madz sang with a bigger audience in mind—virtually at least—and for Carpio, it added to the excitement of the group.
“Maybe that’s what singing with a choir does, it just gives you that exhilarating feeling. That’s why, despite not seeing our audience, we still felt gratified and committed to giving a good performance,” he said.
200,000 viewers
The Madz, one of the world’s best and most awarded choral groups, sang sitting in a semicircular shape, imagining that the audience was at the other half of the circle.
Little did they know that their audience in their very first online concert counted nearly 200,000.
“I found our performance at the Inquirer interesting and really enjoyable. It was the first time that we ever did such a concert. I have to give it to the Inquirer for making sure that all aspects of our performance were captured well,” Carpio said.
The Madz performed a total of 16 songs—including the well-loved “Circle of Life,” “Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin” and “Moon River.”
Madz fans and choral music aficionados worldwide gathered on their livestreaming devices at 7 p.m. on the dot. The choir’s compelling performance made waves online, fetching 5,400 comments on Facebook Live.
On Facebook, the viewers interacted with each other in real-time, with followers requesting some titles the group has done in the past.
Some online viewers likened the livestreaming to “watching in the Cultural Center of the Philippines,” while others expressed disbelief that they were watching a world-class musical treat for free.
GOING FULL CIRCLE The Madz perform at the Inquirer office in Makati City but reach out to the world.—ARNOLD ALMACEN
Inspiring comments
After the rousing performance, the singers went to their holding rooms to read some of the comments that brought them laughter and cheer.
“We really had fun reading the comments made during our performance,” Carpio said when asked about their reactions to messages posted by their fans.
Particularly, viewers expressed how they were carried away by the Madz’s soulful rendition of Sugarfree’s “Huwag Ka Nang Umiyak,” which was arranged by one of the group’s countertenors, Ily Matthew Maniano.
On the lighter side, a viewer called soloist John Philip Bautista “Cardo,” the policeman protagonist in the ABS-CBN teleserye “Ang Probinsyano,” which has chosen the group’s new song as its theme song.
“It was interesting to see how they seemed to be so engaged with what we were doing—from our songs to our singing and how, at that moment, it has touched their hearts in more ways than one,” Carpio said.
During the concert, viewers expressed their gratitude to the Madz and to the Inquirer for putting an “eargasmic” musical experience for free. Some even requested an encore, to which the group happily obliged.
Asked if the group would be interested in staging a full online concert again, Carpio said they would love to share more of their music to more people.
“Yes, of course! We hope that the next time we do it, we’d be able to do different genres so we can contribute to the education and the upliftment of our audience,” he said.
Fans can expect it to happen again on Inquirer.net in the future, but for now they can catch the Madz in a concert titled “Boom Pak” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on May 6 and 7.