The UST Singers during their performance at the Auditorio Conde Duque in Madrid
20 June 2012 – The Philippine Embassy in Madrid reported that the UST Singers capped off their concert tour of Spain with a concert at the prestigious Auditorio Conde Duque in Madrid on 19 June 2012.
Ambassador Carlos C. Salinas opened the concert with remarks that touched on the many successes of the UST Singers including winning the prestigious Choir of the World Grand Prize Luciano Pavarotti Trophy at the Llangolen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, United Kingdom in 1995 and 2010 and how they make each and every Filipino proud with every win they garner abroad.
The concert in Madrid, which lasted for an hour, featured both religious and non-secular songs in Spanish, English, German and Filipino which had the crowd at times swaying to the beat and up on their feet for a standing ovation at the end.
The UST Singers, composed of 27 students and alumni of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, was in Spain from 06-20 June 2012 to do a concert tour upon the invitation of the Ambassador.
The tour was launched with a concert at the San Salvador Cathedral at Jerez de la Frontera in Andalucia on 07 June 2012. It was followed by a much-applauded and highly praised concert in the historic Oratorio de San Felipe Neri in Cadiz on 08 June 2012.
The Embassy organized the concert in Cadiz as part of its efforts to participate in the activities to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Signing of the Cadiz Constitution of 1812. The Philippines, as a former overseas colony of Spain, was represented in the Spanish Cortes that drafted and signed the Constitution by Mr. Ventura de los Reyes (a Filipino businessman from Ilocos).
In addition to Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz and Madrid, the tour brought the group to Seville, Marbella, Palencia, and Carrion de los Condes (the birthplace of the Fr. Miguel de Benavides – founder of UST).
The UST Singers´ concert tour in Spain was co-sponsored by the National Commission for Cultural and Arts (NCCA) and the Filipino Communities in Madrid and Marbella.