To Represent Thy Country

Last July 6-13, 2013 were the most memorable days of my life, for it was then when we flew off to the United Kingdom to represent the Philippines in one of the very prestigious choral competition in the world of music, the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfodd . It was priceless because the sacrifices we invested during the summer rehearsals and training were paid off and also, that time I will be celebrating my birthday so it was the most memorable gift I had received together with my choir mates and friends – that is to be called “The First Children’s Choir of the World”. We underwent several fatigues just to be prepared for this big event of our year, be it physical, emotional, musical, financial, and spiritual fatigues, but we trusted God that He will guide us on our way there.

It was Saturday evening when we boarded our trip from Manila to London Heatthrow airport, but we had a stopover in Incheon Airport. There we enjoyed the Korean hype! Nah! It was just the amenities Incheon airport gave us. I even posted a message in my Facebook account, and my classmates wished me and my choirmates good luck and guess what ... pasalubong too!

After our major stopover in Incheon, South Korea, we headed straight to the London Heatthrow airport. We really prayed so hard that we even held our rosaries tight because of the turbulence we are experiencing. It wasn't my first time to board a plane, but the turbulence was really my first. At last! I thanked God for that we landed London already. From the airport, we were amazed by the sunset of London, for it was still bright in a 6:30 pm time. There we had a concert welcomed by different Filipino groups in London wishing the best for us and the country. After that, we went straight to Llangollen, North Wales because the competition proper will take place there. 

When we arrived there, we already saw our co-competitors in their respective buses. We made sure we were friendly for us to have a friendly competition while in Llangollen. On the first day, we had a televised parade of competitors in the beautiful streets of the town. On the next day was the competition proper itself for the two categories, Folk Children’s Choir and Senior Children’s Choir. For the first time, we arrived at the back stage. From there we felt a bunch of butterflies in our stomachs with our heart jumping for nervousness. There is a big monitor that shows the current performing choir so we were kind of felt intimidation for these angels on stage. When it was our time to sing, we saw how big the stage is, it gave me additional factor to be nervous, but as we were singing some choral artworks, my nervousness lessen to zero. 

After our turn, we went outside the tent (the hall for the competition) and luckily CNN (Cable News Network) and BBC (British Broadcasting Company) interviewed us and said we brought the sun with us, meaning the sun went out when we arrived at the place probably due to rainy days. After that, we went back to the tent for the announcement of the winner of the first category, and we got it with a score of 95, the highest score so far on the whole competition.

Even though on the second category we did not won, because of the 95 score we arose to be the new titleholder. It was amazing to hear the name of your country among the 27 competing countries; it was totally out of this world! I thanked our choirmasters for the great gift for my birthday. That day, I was like on top of a mountain shouting for joy. The parents who accompanied us cried because of this historical milestone for our choir, and us wearing a smile because of the triumph we got. After the triumph, we

When we arrived here in the Mother Land, many TV appearances, choral commitments, and lastly the courtesy call awarded by the Head of the State for the job well done. It’s good that through music, we gave glory to the troubled Philippines, to God, and to our families and selves. Amazing yet hard is what to expect to represent my country.