Choral music rarely makes headlines, yet the Philippine Madrigal Singers seem determined to prove it can. Returning to Bangkok in partnership with the Philippine Embassy and the Thailand Choral Association, the ensemble – founded in 1963 by Andrea O. Veneracion and now under Mark Anthony Carpio – has long blurred the line between performance and history. Their accolades read like an archive of firsts: the only choir to win the European Grand Prix twice, the first Asian group awarded the BrandLaureate Premiere Award, and champions of Arezzo’s Grand Prix in 2016. But perhaps what lingers most is not the trophies, but their audiences – popes, presidents, monarchs and, once, a Thai king who listened to his own compositions refracted through their voices. To hear them sing is to watch diplomacy become harmony.
September 1. B600 via here. Thailand Cultural Centre, 7.30pm-9.30pm