SEVERAL artists from the University of the Philippines-Diliman were among those given recognition at the first SUDI Awards of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Professor Josefino Toledo from the College of Music and the UP Singing Ambassadors and UP Madrigal Singers were honored for their outstanding contribution across genres and modes of production “with the highest standard and artistic excellence.”

Toledo, the director of the UP Symphonic Orchestra, is a faculty at the CMU Department of Composition and Theory. He is also an executive director of Miriam College Center for Applied Music.

He is noted for premiering works of Filipino composers as well as other Asian composers and has conducted concerts in Japan, Indonesia, Australia, and China.

His works were cited in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 20th Century Composers of Asia, Komponisten der Gegenwart in Germany, Philippine Encyclopedia for the Arts, Who’s Who in International Music in England, and Who’s Who in Australasia and England.

Meanwhile, the UPSA was founded on August 12, 1980 by CMU conductor Ed Manguiat.

“UPSA is one of the Philippines’ foremost choral groups. It has earned for the country several grand prizes, first prizes and other awards in at least 20 international competitions. UPSA has won the Grand Prize in the Concorso Polifonico Internazionale Guido d’Arezzo in Italy twice (2001 and 2018), and is the first Asian choir to win.  It is also one of only five Filipino choirs to attain eligibility to contend in the European Grand Prix, the Olympics of choral singing, in 2002 and 2019,” the university said.

MADZ on the other hand was founded by National Artist for Music and former CMU faculty Prof. Andrea Veneracion.

“MADZ is one of the world’s most awarded choral groups, having consistently won all the top prizes in most of the world’s prestigious choral competitions. They hold the distinction of being the first choir in the world to win the highly-acclaimed European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (1997 and 2007),” the university said.