Maryknoll Centennial
Award-winning Filipino glee club serenades sisters

Thanksgiving to Maryknoll Sisters for the school they founded 85 years ago in Manila was telltale in their young voices, as women from Miriam College High School in the Philippines serenaded the sisters in celebration of the congregation’s centennial July 2 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center near Ossining, New York.

Titled “In Praise of Mission,” the concert featured a two-hour medley of timeless international and ethnic compositions. The concert officially concluded with a tribute to the Maryknoll Sisters and their contributions to Miriam College, with the Glee Club performing a song titled, “Para Sa ‘Yo Bayani,” which translates to “For Our Heroes.”

After the concert, the Glee Club travelled to Cincinnati, Ohio to compete in the seventh World Choir Games, dubbed as the Olympics of choral music. Held every two years, it is the world’s largest international choral competition, gathering 360 choirs from 48 countries competing in 23 musical categories. Among the nine Filipino choirs in attendance, the Miriam College High School Glee Club is the lone all-female group from a secondary school. They will compete in the Sacred Music and Youth Choirs of Equal Voices Categories.

During the sixth World Choir Games in Shaoxing, China, the MCHS Glee Club won two silver diplomas. They have also won several awards in various other choral singing competitions.

Story and photo submitted by Maryknoll Sisters