This is a short story of how the “Gospel” got into the Himig Singers.
We started out as a small singing ensemble in 1988, just a bunch of college freshmen wanting to indulge their passion for choral music. Within the next few years success and national acclaim transformed the group into a concert chorus, the pride of their city, Davao. This was followed by bittersweet triumphs in European choral competitions and festivals in 1995, 1997 and 2004. Soon we were touring the United States and Canada, performing for Filipino expatriates nostalgic for the culture of their homeland.
In 2005, while on tour in Canada, the group began to experience a series of difficulties that soon came to threaten its very existence. Financial difficulties and the stress of numerous singing engagements began to take their toll. Relationships became strained to breaking point, and a mutinous atmosphere pervaded. Bottom line, it was every touring choir’s nightmare.
Then God sent people, ordinary folk, who felt compelled to offer assistance. A handful of Filipinos helped ease us out of a one-sided relationship with our producer. They offered us food and shelter and found us singing engagements without asking for a return. Some of these folk called themselves Christians and because they knew nothing else, they pointed us in the direction of singing in churches. Soon churches large and small became our favored performing venue.
