THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES SINGING AMBASSADORS (UPSA), 2002 ALIW Awardee for Best University Choir, was nominated and chosen as the official Philippine Entry to the UNESCO International Music Prize (Paris, FRANCE) in 2005.
Under Founder and Conductor, ED MANGUIAT, the Group has won Grand and Top Prizes in European choral competitions. Winning the GRAND PRIZE in the most prestigious Guido d’ Arezzo competitions 2001 qualified UPSA to represent it and the Philippines in the 14th EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX (EGP) for Choral Singing 2002 in ITALY.
Performing all types of music from the classicals to the most modern genre, UPSA also showcases cultural dances from the ethnic North and South. UPSA has sung in many national and international historic events; sung for weddings of the Philippines’ most prominent families; and has done back-ups for the country’s top artists – LANI MISALUCHA, REGINE VELASQUEZ, KUH LEDESMA, MARTIN NIEVERA, JOSE MARI CHAN, ERIC SANTOS, KYLA, and even with the WOLFGANG BAND. The Group was specifically requested by the musical director of Mr. JOSH GROBAN to be the pop icon’s special back-up in his Manila “Awake” concert at the PICC. UPSA has also concertized in the most exclusive Arezzo Petrarca Concert Hall and Firenze Palazzio Vecchio in ITALY, and the Sydney Opera House in AUSTRALIA.
The UPSA Outreach Program has involved the Group in fundraising activities for the sick and the needy. UPSA also visits hospital wards, homes for the aged and orphanages. Choral workshops here and abroad have produced champions and winners. Under the auspices of Sen. EDGARDO J. ANGARA, UPSA holds choral workshops for children and youth choirs in Baler, AURORA in preparation for Philippine-Spanish Friendship Day and BALER 400. This is in coordination with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Kalahi Foundation, the Department of Tourism (DOT) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
For almost 30 years, the University of the Philippines Singing Ambassadors (UPSA) has been sharing its music to its regular local and international audiences and more significantly, to the less privileged who are constant recipients of their musical generosity.
ED MANGUIAT
Founder / Conductor
ED MANGUIAT, the Founder and Conductor of the UP Singing Ambassadors (UPSA) – one of only four (4) Filipino choirs that have qualified in the European Grand Prix (EGP) for Choral Music competitions. A member of the International Federation on Choral Music (IFCM), Ed has led the UPSA to win Grand Prizes, First Prizes and other Top Prizes in prestigious choral competitions in Arezzo & Gorizia, ITALY; Debrecen, HUNGARY; Tours, FRANCE; Varna, BULGARIA; Llangollen, WALES; Neuchatel, SWITZERLAND; Torrevieja & Cantonigros, SPAIN; Sopot, POLAND; Trencianske Teplice, SLOVAKIA; Maasmechelen, BELGIUM; Wernigerode, GERMANY; Arnehem, NETHERLANDS and Prague & Pardubice in the CZECH REPUBLIC.
Ed started his choral studies at the UP College of Music under respected vocal and choral pedagogues – Baritones Aurelio Estanislao & Prof. Elmo Makil, Opera Diva Fides Cuyugan-Asencio, Prof. Andrea Veneracion of the Madrigal Singers, Prof. Rey Paguio of the UP Concert Chorus, Dr. Joel Navarro of the Ateneo Glee Club, Prof. Flora rivera of the UP Cherubim & Seraphim, among others. He also enrolled at the UST Conservatory of Music under Dean RAUL SUNICO. In the IFCM 1st & 4th World Symposia on Choral Music in Vienna and Sydney, respectively, Ed attended classes, clinics and workshops under international choral masters like the world-renowned ERIC ERICSON and ROBERT SUND of SWEDEN, among others. Ed received the DIRIGENTENPREIS (Conductor’s Prize) in the 2nd Johannes Brahms International Choir Competitions in GERMANY in 2001.
As a composer and lyricist, he has done collaborative works with three National Artists – former CAL Dean, Dr. VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO for “Matitiis Mo Ba?”; Dr. BIENVENIDO L. LUMBERA for “Pangarap Na Langit”; Maestro LUCIO D. SAN PEDRO for the lyrics of “Mga Alipin sa Silangang Malayo” (presented in the Iglesia Ni Cristo’s 95th Anniversary Celebration recently). A recent choral work is one of the themes in the internationally acclaimed film “MAGNIFICO”.
Though Ed holds a degree in Hotel & Restaurant Administration, most of his recognitions are in the field of music. Ed received acknowledgments from the Rotary Club of Manila in May 2007 and was honored in the city festivities of the Government of Lipa last January 2009. Also, Ed received the Golden Achievers’ Award during the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Lipa City in 1997 following an Award in 1993 as the Most Outstanding Lipeño in the field of music. Most recently, Ed was awarded a Plaque of Appreciation by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under Sec. Esperanza I. Cabral and was inducted to the PHI KAPPA PHI International Honor Society not only for his musical achievements but also for his voluntary works for the less privileged.
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