Thursday, August 27, 2009

sipang-panimula, anyone?

In 2007, the Coro de Sta. Cecilia joined the Asian Choir Games in Jakarta Indonesia. The group won the highest gold in the musica sacra category. For this endeavor, the choir spent over 200,000 pesos, which it did not have. What it couldn't raise through solicitations and other fundraising activities, it had to borrow. Coro doesn't have a manager so apart from the music, the singers also did all the legwork before and after the competition (to pay off the huge debt).

A group that had its beginnings in the UP Chapel, made up of students and yuppies, it did not have a line to the right channels for funding. Wouldn't it have been great if there had been a site such as Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) to have helped fundraising. Kickstarter is a startup that helps artists find funding for their projects and at the same time gives the ordinary person the chance to invest a few dollars in projects they want to support. I was instantly excited by the idea of helping Coro by giving a few bucks (pesos, that is). Unfortunately, projects can only be started by people with a US address and bank account. It would be a good experiment to see if the idea can be adapted in the Philippine setting. It sure would be great to see Coro fulfill its dream of recording an album and joining the Choir Olympics.

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