Miani-Arvedi Triumphs with Nine Graduates

This school year 2011-2012 is another triumphant and blessed year for Casa Miani boys who have reaped the fruit of their labors. Six boys graduated from the Elementary level, two boys from High School, and one earned a College degree.

The boys who completed elementary are  Nilo Ledesma, Kim Cadorna,  John Paul Habitan, Roque Perez, and the twin brothers Raymond and Raymark Guimarangan. The last four boys enumerated  were donned special awards in music as members of Vox Orphanorum-the Ambassadors of Goodwill and Music of the province of Negros Oriental. 

Jay-Ar Rosano and Ariel Morte also marked off their secondary years as awardees.  Jay-Ar is exulted the 1st Honorable Mention and a Gold Medal for Best in Math.  Ariel Morte received Service Awards. Both also received Vox Orphanorum awards for music.

For the first time in the history of Casa Miani-Arvedi, an occupant will graduate from college. His name is Jojo Conceso Ella. He finally concluded his education by finishing the course Bachelor of Science in Information Technology.

Vox Orphanorum Continues to Bring Music to the People

Now in their 5th Year of singing, since their official launching into the mainstream of religious and public service, Vox Orphanorum continues to enthrall their audience on stage and church performances.           

Upon invitation of Fr. Dexter Pomada, Parish Priest of Palanas, Tanjay City, Vox sang back-to-back with their parish choir during the fiesta Mass Celebrated by Bishop John F. Du of the Diocese of Dumaguete last May 3, 2011.  The people in Palanas, happy and amazed by the angelic voices of the choir, invited the group to stage a concert.

Last September 15, 2011, Vox Orphanorum came back to serenade the parishioners of Palanas for a concert as a fundraising for both the Parish and Casa Miani. The church was filled with an awed audience who clamored incessantly for more songs at the end of the repertoire. The concert started at 8:00 pm and ended at 10:00 pm with the Vox performing 3 encores.

To mark the 5th year anniversary of the choir, the music director, Jeremias Perez proposed for another concert at Silliman University’s Luce Auditorium and commissioned the symphonic band of Negros Oriental State University to provide accompaniment for this anniversary concert. Furthermore, Vox was joined center stage by another choir composed of businessmen and professionals, the BCBP-North Music Ministry.

The repertoire of the religious and inspirational songs, folk tunes, love ballads, and Christmas carols left the audience mesmerized and captivated. Show critics and reviews could only say that they find the show “too short.” Little did they know that the concert was already an hour and forty minutes long.

As the school year ends, two of the schools in Dumaguete City had invited the children to sing for their baccalaureate masses: Negros Maritime College and Dumaguete City Central Elementary School. Through singing in various events, the Vox Orphanorum find new friends and witness great and touching moments of some people.

"Arcobaleno"

With nine months to prepare, for the concert entitled “Arcobaleno”, Vox Miani has more than enough time to learn new songs and polish the old signature melodies. The intensive training of a boys’ choir will be a serious demand for a choir who usually sings with alto and soprano counterparts from their sister orphanage – Casa Cittadini of the Ursulline Sisters of Somasca.

However, for Jeremias  Perez, music  director  of  Vox Orphanorum, a performance in Sophia Soler Auditorium of the De La Salle - Zobel Campus only deserves a well-disciplined start in the month of August of 2010. 

The boys know that they need to pull strings in order to make it in time. The first concern is correct breathing and vocal technique. Polishing and blending of voices were enhanced as each musical piece was learned phrase-by-phrase repeatedly. The employment of appropriate choreography came next as each choir boy has to act with organic inception of the song and its message.

 The summer of 2011 would mean daily practice for Vox until their day to fly for Alabang came. That would be the first flight to 17 of the 21 boys. Four of these boys have flown to Manila a year earlier to join the Angels Choir of  Tagaytay during Fr. Enrico Balderama’s ordination to the deaconate.

The boys arrived 23rd of May in Alabang. The rest of the days will be rehearsals at the venue with Ludy Llaneza, the concert impresario and Bing Mercado, the show director.

May 28 will be a date to remember. It will be written in history when Vox Miani conquered the stage of La Salle-Zobel. The evening was indeed inspiring as the audience generously let out cheers of affirmation and thunderous applause to every song rendered. Moreover, Vox prides in sharing the stage with an international pianist – Alberto Macri.   

It was also an evening to share the limelight with stars in the person of Eugene Villaluz, Pat Castillo, Jacki Magno, and Bing Mercado. To top it all, the stage was never better without the dances of fellow Miani boys from San Jose and Sorsogon.

It was also an evening to share the limelight with stars in the person of Eugene Villaluz, Pat Castillo, Jacki Magno, and Bing Mercado. To top it all, the stage was never better without the dances of fellow Miani boys from San Jose, Lubao, and the Excrambles from Tarlac.

Sunday, May 29, will be church-hopping as Vox serenades the nearby chapels and St. Jerome church towards the end of every mass. It was a simple way of thanking the support of the parishioners and way to have their songs heard from those who did not make it to the concert.

An invitation to the Espiritu’s residence was inspiring and uplifting. It was a cocktail hosted to honor the efforts of the people behind “Arcobaleno”.

The Tagaytay profession of new religious brothers will be their last performance … and the most risky. Alberto Macri was requested by Fr. Cesar de Santis to accompany. But the choir and the accompanist have never rehearsed the songs together.  With barely an hour to prepare, Vox and Macri pulled a very solemn performance of an almost all-Latin mass repertoire.

But the story will not end here yet. After everyone has had their full of the sumptuous lunch, Vox performed right in the middle of the seminary gardens of Tagaytay. This time, they sang a full concert repertoire of love songs, folk music, chansons, madrigals, and foreign songs.

The succeeding days are evenly filled with lighter events as to mall tours and sports challenge between the Miani boys of San Jose and their neighbors. The Manila experience was concluded by a pool party hosted by the gracious Ludy Llaneza in her Alabang residence.

The nine-day engagement will never be forgotten. It was in this summer of 2011 that a lot of first-time events were experienced. The organizers and initiators ought to be congratulated and thanked for the wonderful time and opportunity they have lavished Vox Miani. The choir is indeed thankful for the provision of palettes, brushes, and paints. And with Fr. Frank Cabrera’s hand driving, they will surely reach their destination safe and in time.