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Alcala wins US choral composition contest
August 20,2008
A composed who traces his roots to the musically-talented Alcala Clan of Virac has won one of the three awards in the 2008-2009 POLYPHONOS Choral Composition Competition in the
United States of America.
Nilo Alcala, who will be turning 30 this year, was named Young Composer by The Esoterics, a vocal ensemble based in Seattle, Washington. Based in Lucena City, he is the grandson of the
late musician-educator Fredeswindo Alcala, Sr. and the former Soledad Mendez of Virac.
Now in its third year, the competition inspired 128 entries from all over the world. A panel of three judges reviewed all the anonymous scores to settle upon the winners of three separate
awards: one national (U.S.) composer, one international composer, and one young composer under the age of 30.
Each awardee will receive a US$1,000 commission for a 5-minute new work that The Esoterics will premiere during their 2009 concert season. The winners will also receive funds for travel
and lodging to the premiere of their work next year.
"The pool of applicants was particularly strong this year, and the judges struggled to settle upon just the awards," the organizer said in a statement. The other two winners are: National (US)
composer Shawn Brogan Allison of Chicago, Illinois and International composer Eduardo Andres Malachevsky of San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.
Alcala is currently a graduate student in composition at Syracuse University Setnor School of Music (New York State) and recipient of the Billy Joel Fellowship. Among his teachers are
Nicholas Scherzinger, Gregory Mertl, Andrew Waggoner, and Daniel Godfrey.
An active chorister, he was member and composer-in-residence of the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Asia’s most awarded and traveled choir. The group premiered his works in concert tours
in the United States, and several countries in Asia and Europe, including the following prestigious international competitions: 35th Florilege Vocal de Tours (Tours, France) and the 2007
European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (Arezzo, Italy).
Alcala’s concert tours with the Philippine Madrigal Singers include Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, and Spain (May-August 2004); Korea (December, 2004); Thailand (March 2005);
USA (November-December 2005) Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and France (May-June 2006), and Japan (December 2007).
Among the most promising young composers in his country, Alcala’s works have been performed by a number of Asian choirs in festivals, concert tours, or competitions held in China, Korea,
Thailand, Indonesia, Austria, and Slovakia.
In October 2004, Alcala was 2nd prize winner of the Asian Composers League (ACL) Young Composers Competition held in Jerusalem, Israel. He was also the Philippine delegate to and
featured composer in the 1st I'mPULSE International Music Camp organized by the Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF) in February 2005.
Alcala received a B.S. in Development Communication from the University of the Philippines Los Banos (1999) prior to his admission to the BM Composition program of the University of the
Philippines’ Diliman College of Music where he studied with Jonas Baes, Christine Muyco, Ramon Pagayon Santos, and Josefino Chino Toledo. He graduated Magna cum laude (2007) and
received the Gawad Tsanselor Natatanging Mag-aaral Award (Chanselor’s Award for Outstanding Student).
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