Swedish choir performs Filipino folk song 'Leron Leron Sinta'

CNN Philippines

Joining us now via Zoom are the choir's conductor Kerstin Borjeson and member Annelie Sarocchi.   Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 Have you ever heard an international choir singing a Filipino folk song?

00:05 Well, take a listen.

00:08 [Filipino folk song]

00:10 [Filipino folk song]

00:39 Truly amazing. Now what you just saw and heard is the award-winning performance of Swedish choir

00:46 Hagerstown Acapella singing "Leron, Leron, Cinta" at the International Baltic Sea Choir Competition

00:52 in Latvia and that was way back in 2022. The video received praises from netizens saying the

00:59 Swedes pronounced the Filipino lyrics really well and the group got awards for this performance

01:05 including Best Conductor, Best Compulsory Piece and the Grand Prize. And joining us now via Zoom

01:14 are the choir's conductor, Sherson Borgeson and member Annalie Sarochi. Good morning to you both.

01:20 Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you.

01:23 I mean, what would...

01:25 Thank you for being invited.

01:26 Yeah.

01:27 It is truly, truly wonderful. Makes us proud. I mean, when we would hear this go viral.

01:34 But for you, I mean, this performance definitely happened way back in 2022. So let's revisit.

01:41 Let's go back in 2022. For you, Sherson, how did you even decide to choose this piece for your competition?

01:50 Well, you see, when you're in competition, you have some rules you have to...

01:59 you have and rules to follow. And it could be a piece's writing who comes from several

02:12 times in historic times. And it also could be some modern piece. And so it's only different groups.

02:25 And we need a piece with lots of energy and joy and

02:31 funny to sing. And I talked to a colleague to me and she

02:39 told to me, "Here you have a very good piece from the Philippine song. I have done it." She had done

02:50 it when she was conducting the World Youth Choir. And we liked it very much. And so it was in the competition.

03:00 I mean, wonderful. Just looking at the video, I can see how much you enjoyed conducting. The smile

03:08 on your face, you know, it was quite pleasant to see for Annalie. How were you shocked when

03:15 Sherson here said, "We're going to do a piece from the Philippines"? Were you surprised?

03:20 Oh, maybe a little. We do sing, or we have sung before, various songs from different countries.

03:29 But as I understood it, this is a traditional folk song from the Philippines. And we have never

03:42 sung anything that exotic before, let's say. For us, exotic.

03:48 Well, you know, how long did you have to practice this? Your diction is absolutely on point. Was it

03:58 difficult for you to learn? Was it difficult for you to teach them, Sherson? I mean, you yourself

04:04 had to learn the dialect. We had a help from one choir member, a person from the Philippines.

04:17 And this person made a recording and spoke the text. And we could learn it by the way.

04:30 How long did it take you or the group to memorize and to learn the lyrics?

04:35 Well, you see, we had lots of time for all the different pieces we were studying.

04:43 But I think this piece was, when a piece is funny to sing, it goes bright in the heart.

04:55 Yeah, it comes very naturally.

04:57 Yeah, it was very natural for us.

05:00 So I think that we learned it pretty quickly. We had maybe half a year even to rehearse.

05:06 Some weeks in a rehearsal was included.

05:14 We are rehearsing once in a week. Yes. And I think this piece, the choir was learning by

05:26 just two or three rehearsals. But then you have to study more to do it as perfect as possible.

05:36 Of course. And perfect you did. I mean, you pretty much won all the awards. Now, of course,

05:42 this piece was arranged by Sander Troy, who is a Filipino composer who is based in Los Angeles.

05:50 For those that are not familiar with Sander, well, he's a composer, a performer. He's written

05:56 a variety of works performed in various concert halls, Carnegie included, and has also arranged

06:04 for Tony Award winner Lea Salonga. How did you work with him? Did you work with him on this piece?

06:11 No.

06:17 Actually, we have not been in contact with Sander at all. We just spoke about it now before

06:22 entering the interview that maybe we should give him a call. Because we really appreciate this

06:30 piece. It's a great arrangement. So we cannot take full credit for our performance. It's a lot

06:37 this arrangement that suited us just perfectly.

06:43 Okay, now just a little bit about your group. You have 40 members currently residing in Stockholm,

06:50 Sweden. Tell us a little bit about the music and your repertoire. Have you performed this song

06:56 again? Yes, we have done it several times. Yes. And always with a very happy audience,

07:05 listen to it. But we do very different sorts of music. But we like very much to sing the

07:19 Swedish folk music. Of course, we are doing a concert now with a Swedish great folk song singers

07:28 together with her. But we also do the more traditional repertoire, big repertoire

07:36 by Johann Sebastian Bach, for example. And a larger orchestra. Yeah. And also

07:48 contemporary musicals or new written by Swedish composers and others, of course. So it's very

07:57 difficult to get different music with just a cappella or with orchestras. Yeah. Yes. And you

08:06 have mastered that so well. Well, getting back to the performance, you did join this competition

08:15 way back in 2022. I'm not sure what happened back then, but it's only now that us here,

08:23 especially in the Philippines, we've been, you know, our social media has been abuzz with this

08:30 trend of your songs of Leron Leron Sinta. How does that feel for you that, you know, two years later,

08:37 it's still it's still going viral? Yes, it's true. We are very honored, of course.

08:45 And also, it's a little bit, if you understand, a little bit crazy to to have this

08:52 experience. Yeah. And millions of people who have seen us perform. And tomorrow I'm going to meet

09:07 the ambassador from Philippines here in Stockholm and have lunch.

09:14 And especially I would like to say that it's so nice to hear it really connects with

09:23 that this music resonates. Our version resonates with. Yes. Yeah. And lots of

09:35 so many people that we are we are doing doing it's just

09:42 just justice. Indeed. I mean, when we listen to it, it seems like a Filipino

09:49 choir doing it. You guys have done it so well, which is why we were utmost surprised and amazed

09:56 at how well and how much justice I mean, you gave this beautiful folk song of ours.

10:02 What's next for you and the group? You mentioned something that you are also planning to do,

10:07 you know, competitions along the way. Any more Filipino songs since you've already mastered one?

10:14 Are you planning to do more Filipino songs in the future?

10:17 We would like to sing more Philippine songs. And we also know you have lots of very,

10:29 very good choirs in the Philippines. I have heard them several times on festivals and so.

10:34 And so therefore, also, we are very honored that you from your country are so interested in our

10:42 concert, our performance. It's very.

10:50 Well, congratulations to you for your numerous wins and also for bringing so much joy to the

10:59 Filipino community by singing our folk song, "Leron, Leron Sira." Maraming salamat. Thank you

11:04 so much, Sherston and Annalie, for joining us this morning on New Day. Thank you. Bye bye.

11:11 Bye bye. Thank you.

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