HKCS Press Release – 3Aug2026, Surrey/Vancouver/Budapest/Vienna
(by DACuenca)
Each note they sang blended into the impeccable harmony of songs that captivated and amazed international audiences and jurors, earning the Himig Kabataan Cultural Society (HKCS) Choir the Golden Award, College and Adult Category, at the 15th World Peace Choral Festival (WPCF https://www.wpcf.at ) in Vienna, Austria on 23 – 26 July 2026. The Awards Night was held at the Golden Hall, Musikverein, where HKCS was the clear and undisputed crowd favourite from the festival workshops and concerts to the Gala Concert.
HKCS mesmerized audiences, jurors, and organizers with their fresh and flawless brand of rhythmic and emotional resonance, dynamic range, and pristine intonation, producing, with unified precision, a harmony of songs created by 24 individual voices of hardworking and talented Filipino-Canadian Youths from British Columbia, Canada: Kirsten Allyson Alipio, Thea Angeles, Rane Beato, Marc Billedo, Samantha Caindec, Diego Cloma, Bea Correa, Mireia Amba Cuenca, Jodee Ganata, Chiasa Guerrero, Heather Faith Igloria, Raenard Macaspac, Alyanna Manga, Christian Joseph Manlapas, Nicolas Matig-a, Francine Nillos, Matthew Perez, Cedric Rafanan, Annika Rentasida, John Reyes, Angelo Sakai, Ian Sakai, Gabriel Salazar, and Chelsea Totanes. Their beautiful costumes made artisans from the Philippines highlighted Filipino craftsmanship and artistry, dazzled the audiences as well.
HKCS is the first Filipino-Canadian choir to participate in WPCF’s 15-year history. HKCS is the first Filipino choir to participate and win a Gold Award at the WPCF. There have been a few choirs from Canada in previous years, but they only participated in the festival’s cultural exchange activities and did not compete. This makes HKCS the first Filipino choir, the first Canadian choir, and the first Filipino-Canadian choir to win a Gold Award, and the Award for Excellent Folk and National Music at the WPCF — a pioneering quadruple honour no other choir has ever achieved.
“Himig Kabataan” means “youthful melody” in Tagalog. Based in Surrey, BC, HKCS aims to share the beauty of Filipino music on a local, national, and global scale, while representing Canada and the Philippines. That is what HKCS achieved and pioneered at the WPCF and in their other performances for the Filipino diasporic and global audiences in Austria and in Hungary in July 2026, Colombia in November 2025, Edmonton in 2024, and BC since 2022. They have sung both the Canadian and Philippine national anthems in cultural and sports events. They also sing songs in Filipino and several of its dialects, French, English, Spanish, and Latin. Their winning competition pieces at the WPCH were in Latin (Locus Iste), French (Il Est Bel Et Bon), and Bicolano (Saro, Duwa, Tolo).
Matthew Perez, HKCS’ Musical Director and Conductor, was also appointed to a five-year term to the Advisory Committee of the WPCF, a position no Canadian or Filipino has ever held. John Reyes, HKCS’s Assistant Musical Director and Pianist, says of the HKCS’s achievements: “Every note I play and we sing as a group is a beautiful expression of our hard work and our collective identities as Filipino-Canadians.” HKCS Executive Director and Founder Bea Correa, whose dreams and passions provided the crucial seeds of this successful and unchartered musical and cultural journey, says: “This is just the beginning. We are committed to preserving, celebrating, and sharing Filipino musical heritage as Canadian youths to spread peace and harmony on the global stage in line with Canada’s brand of multiculturalism.“
In Budapest, prior to the competition, HKCS regaled Filipino migrant workers and Hungarian parishioners at a special Catholic Mass at the Inner-City Church of the Franciscans, organized by the Philippine Embassy in Hungary. HKCS’s performances were the first time Filipino songs melodiously resonated at WPCF events: welcome ceremonies at the United Nations Headquarters; Opening Ceremony at the Vienna Rathaus (City Hall); a community performance at a Senior’s home in Vienna; Voices of Peace Concerts at the Schubertkirche and the House of Strauss; and juried competition at the MuTh. HKCS’s European Tour concluded with concert titled Pasalubong: Souvenirs from the Motherland at the Pfarrkirche Floridsdorf, attended by Canada’s Ambassador to Austria, Alison Grant, and Philippine Ambassador to Austria, Luli Arroyo-Bernas.
Enjoy HKCS’s soulful and winning performances at your leisure at: https://www.youtube.com/@HimigKabataanCulturalSociety. Watch them live on Sunday, 6 September 2026, at 2 pm, at the Surrey Arts Centre Main Stage (Tickets at TICKETS.SURREY.CA) at their summer concert, Himig ng Tagumpay (Melody of Victory), a fitting performance to punctuate their successful European tour.
— DCuenca
ReyFort Media 
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