Koro Ilustrado, currently part of the Music Ministry of the SSAP, recently achieved new heights in choral singing at the 11th Busan Choral Festival & Competition held on October 14-17, 2015 in Busan, South Korea. The all-male choir led by the Philippine Madrigal Singers alumni Edmund and Anna Piquero were bestowed Silver and Bronze Awards in the Classical Equal Voices and Pop/Acapella categories, respectively, last October 17, 2015 at the conclusion of the aforementioned international choral festival. They also bagged the Special Judge Prize for soul-uplifting and inspiring performances during the competitions. Anna, Koro Ilustrado’s conductor, was awarded Best Conductor and went on to conduct the festival choir.
Koro Ilustrado is currently one of the top all-male choirs in the country. They have participated in numerous local and international choral competitions and performed in numerous concerts including a benefit concert last year held here in SSAP main church. Just also this July 2015, they placed second in the Folk Song Category at the 2015 Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival mounted by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
KI, as the group is commonly referred to, already recorded two albums under the Jesuit Communications label, namely, the inspirational Sa Iyong Pag-ibig in 2013 and the Christmas album titled Carol of the Bells: A Christmas A Cappella in 2014. These two albums brought the music of the group to mainstream when they were awarded the Best Performance by New Group Recording Artists in the 2014 Awit Awards for the song Waka Waka and finalist (winners to be announced) for Best Performance by a Group Recording Artists for the song Krismas Na in the 2015 edition, pitted among the long-established mainstream artists of the country.
With the recent achievements of the choir in their first-ever out of the country competition in South Korea, the members sincerely express their gratitude for the support and generosity of SSAP. The Parish has been the choir’s home since 2009 where they regularly serve in the 2nd and 4th Saturday Masses.
All for the glory of God!
N.B. You may acquire their albums at JesCom’s Tanging Yaman outlets or shop online. You may also download their songs and albums on iTunes.
Santuario de San Antonio Parish 