Saleng Festival set May in Baguio City

By Julie G. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY – The Saleng Festival is set to be held May next month in this summe4r capital with exciting activities.
    Baguio and Benguet secondary schools were urged to showcase their musical talents through an original composition and choir contest on May 26 for the third Saleng/Pine tree festival entitled “Rhythm and Harmony of Nature.”
    According to City Environment and Parks Management Office head lawyer Rhenan Diwas, invitations have been sent to Baguio and Benguet public and private schools for their choir delegation to compete at 1 p.m. on May 26 at Rose Garden, Burnham Park.
    A minimum of 12 singers and 20 at most, are allowed; not counting the conductor and accompanist, if any.
Choreography is a must, the competition guidelines state.
    To date, Baguio City National High School (BCNHS), Pines City National High School (PCNHS) and Philippine Science High School, Cordillera Campus (PSciH-CAR) signified their intentions to compete, and sing about interplays in the environment.
    Schools even from the outskirts of the province or far-flung areas are enjoined to compete, Diwas said.
    “Their musical talents are worth listening to, and local accompaniment or indigenous musical instrument used might even prove to be an original for the competition.”            
    The winner of the original composition competition could be designated as the official musical theme for the succeeding Saleng festivals, Diwas added.
      Two songs, “Awit ng Kalikasan,” by musician Chaz Katalbas and an original composition should be performed within ten minutes; starting with the choir’s proper assembly and commencement of the song, but excluding the singers’ entrance, exit and duration of applause. The musical scoring of Katalbas’ song shall be emailed to the participants for preparation and practice, once the school choir’s application form is received and approved.
    CEPMO chair of the committee on programs engineer Joseph Willy said the choir competition not only confirm talents from the locals, but that the original musical piece may be composed in English, Filipino, any indigenous language of the Cordilleras, or a lyrical mixture of any of the three languages.
    The content should be focused on nature and the environment, and the use of explicit or offensive language, trademark or brand names is strictly prohibited, Willy added.            
    Live accompaniment for both songs is permitted but strictly not any playback or sound track; the organizers agreed. As the festival is focused on nature and its preservation, and spearheaded by the CEPMO, collaborative efforts for the program, communication, technical aspects and arrangements were done by the parks, urban forest, environmental management, water and hazardous waste material, administrative and Burnham Park Division heads and employees for the three-month preparation.    
    Champion voices take home P20,000 and a trophy, with second and third places having P15,000 and P10,000, respectively, with trophies as well.
    The original composition should be submitted signed by the composer not later than May 15 at e-mail addresses cepmobaguio@gmail.com or pcocepmobaguio@gmail.com.
    The common music piece by Katalbas is judged thus; blending and timbre - 30%, interpretation – 30%, choreography - 30%, and over-all impact – 10% while the original composition piece shall be judged on; melody and lyrics - 30%, relevance - 30%, interpretation – 30%, and over-all impact -10%. Fifty percent of the scores of the two performed songs shall be combined for the total score, and ranked accordingly.            
    The composer reserves the rights to the song, no compensation and no participation fee is collected, nor solicited by the organizer.
    The common music piece by Katalbas is judged thus; blending and timbre - 30%, interpretation – 30%, choreography - 30%, and over-all impact – 10% while the original composition piece shall be judged on; melody and lyrics - 30%, relevance - 30%, interpretation – 30%, and over-all impact -10%. Fifty percent of the scores of the two performed songs shall be combined for the total score, and ranked accordingly.            
    The composer reserves the rights to the song, no compensation and no participation fee is collected, nor solicited by the organizer.
    The deadline for submission of entries is on April 28 through online registration at https://forms.gle/byVqJaa4BiS7i1qeA, but contest forms may be submitted at CEPMO, City hall.
Inquiries may be coursed through cp # 0939-2849-571.
Inquiries may be coursed through cp # 0939-2849-571.
    The four-month annual celebration starts June, with clean-ups; regreening and reforestation; tree cart parade, recognition and exhibit; international day for biodiversity, world environment day, green thumb award day, fun run and cycling for the environment.
    The Saleng (Pine tree) festival was institutionalized with Mayor Benjamin Magalong formally signing the ordinance in Jan. 2022 as local government and residents partner to act on preservation and protection of the environment.