Students' musical performances cap first "Hamon ng Himig" tutorial program

By Fred Dabu on August 6, 2024

*UP students who took guitar classes and graduated from the first Hamon ng Himig program. Photo by Kevin Roque, UP MPRO.*

Launched in April to develop UP students' skills in classical guitar and choir-singing, while promoting their overall well-being, the University's "Hamon ng Himig" program this year was capped with a culminating activity held at the Ignacio B. Gimenez–Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura Theater in UP Diliman (UPD) on July 30.

Students from UP constituent universities across the nation: UPD, UP Los Baños, and UP Manila, together with their instructors and facilitators, performed their heartfelt musical pieces live on stage; while those from UP Baguio, UP Cebu, UP Mindanao, UP Open University, and UP Visayas also performed or watched the event via Zoom.

Dr. Nathan Neil Manimtim, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the UPD College of Music (CMu), introduced the students who performed their guitar and choral renditions of selected traditional and pop music, which were either Western or OPM songs or medleys. Among the musical pieces the students performed were: "Amazing Grace," "Ode to Joy," "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran;"Eidelweiss," "All Too Well" by Taylor Swift; "Sitsiritsit," "Ili-Ili Tulog Anay," "Kathang Isip" by Ben&Ben; "Hawak Kamay" by Yeng Constantino; "Liwanag sa Dilim" by Rivermaya; "With a Smile" by the Eraserheads; and the students' original compositions developed through the "Hamon ng Himig" program.

*UP students who took choir-singing classes and graduated from the first Hamon ng Himig program. Photo by Kevin Roque, UP MPRO.*

Proponents of the "Hamon ng Himig" program, the UP Office of the President, Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs–Office of Student Development Services (OSDS), in partnership with CMu and Student Affairs units across the UP System, hailed the successful conduct of the four-month, free tutorial classes in guitar and choir-singing, and congratulated the students for their exceptional performances. Around eighty students joined the weekly tutorials.

UP President Angelo Jimenez remarked that the students who took part in the program would soon be in a position to change other people's lives themselves, and that their music could help them adapt to stress and the fast rate of "civilizational change."

AVP for Academic Affairs Shari Niña Oliquino thanked the program facilitators and instructors for teaching their students how to harness the power of music in the past weeks.

OSDS Director Tristan Nathaniel Ramos, who presented the certificates of appreciation to the program facilitators, also encouraged the audience by saying "it's not too late to learn [how to play a musical instrument]." He shared how he learned how to play the guitar even without formal training. He added that the students' eight weeks of formal training served as a good foundation for them to pursue their passion for music.

CMu College Secretary Jocelyn Guadalupe said that they were looking forward to another season of "Hamon ng Himig," even expanding the program to include more classes like recorder sessions, songwriting, percussion instruments, and music therapy classes.