We’ve all had moments when we just couldn’t help but sing. The trigger may be a breathtaking view, a long-awaited victory, a love letter from a sweetheart, an uncontainable loneliness. Whatever it is, the experience is just too emotional for mere words, that words must take on a melody. Whether the song that comes out is one that already exists, or a totally new creation, never mind if there’s no accompaniment. We just have to sing.
It is these very moments when that Ateneo-based vocal group Hangad will celebrate this July, in Walang Ibang Hangad: An All A Cappella Concert.
Walang Ibang Hangad will feature songs from three of Hangad’s five albums, such as “Magnificat” and “Paghahandog”; existing arrangements including “Man in the Mirror” and “People Get Ready”; and new and original arrangements of “Hawak-Kamay”, “Power of Your Love”, “You Raise Me Up”, and “I Will Sing Forever.”
“Some people say a cappella choral music is better than accompanied choral music,” says Paulo Tirol, the group’s musical director. “I wouldn’t say one is better than the other… but definitely, a cappella music has a distinct challenge and excitement, being 100% vocal.
“It’s been a while since we did an a cappella show, and we miss the challenge and thrill of being to pull something off without any instruments.”
Hangad began singing a cappella music in 1996, having acquired scores of inspirational and Christmas music by US groups First Call and A Cappella Praise. When the group recorded Hangad, its first album, in 1996, the album’s lineup included a number of a cappella tracks such as “One Thing I Ask” and “Pagbabasbas.” The group recorded Hangad A Cappella in 2002, an all a cappella album celebrating Jesuit favorites through new a cappella arrangements. To this day, the group’s repertoire for Masses, concerts, weddings, and Christmas prominently features a cappella pieces.
Walang Ibang Hangad will be the group’s first all a cappella concert since the launch of Hangad A Cappella.
Hangad’s creative director Domi Espejo likens a cappella music to prayer. “A cappella music is very bare, very vulnerable, and very pure… it’s just your voice… much like the way you come before God. That’s why the concert is titled ‘Walang Ibang Hangad’—because there’s desire to sing out to God, and nothing else.”
Hangad is a group of young professionals and students bound in friendship by their passion for helping others know God through liturgical and inspirational music. Over the last 15 years, they have recorded five albums, produced three music videos, and staged numerous inspirational concerts around and outside the Philippines.
Walang Ibang Hangad: An All A Cappella Concert will be held at 6 PM on July 8 and 15 (both Sundays) at the Francisco Santiago Hall, Equitable PCI Bank Tower 1 Auditorium, Makati Ave. cor H.V. Dela Costa St., Makati City. Tickets will be available at the gate for P150 each. For more information, visit www.hangad.com; or e-mail mail@hangad.com. 
