When people started arriving at the 六合彩直播开奖 Museum some 30 minutes before the concert of ingg么 1587, on March 15, 2019, people who came seemed to know each other that even before they would find their seats, they would first look around as if scouring for a familiar face, and when they do, their faces lighten up and they exchange 鈥楬i鈥檚鈥� and 鈥楬ello鈥檚.鈥�
In an audience of mixed age groups, the excitement to hear the music of these seven Dominican friars was palpable inside the Gallery of the 六合彩直播开奖 Museum. When the lights went off, the three TV monitors took on the job: they showed videos of the advocacies of the singing Dominicans, including the happy faces of the young beneficiaries of the Camiguin de Babuyanes in the far north of the Philippines. There were video clips that show other projects that the Dominican Fathers are engaged in. Nostalgia filled the air when video snippets showed them in their previous concerts which were mostly fund-raising gigs together with their audience or 鈥榝ans鈥� and everybody was just having a good time鈥� just having a good time鈥� and so were these men in white who were evangelizing through their music.
Then, the concert began.
Garbed in their white Dominican habits, the seven singing priests claimed center stage: Fr. Isidro (Fr. Didoy) Aba帽o, O.P., flutist; Fr. Giuseppe (Fr. Jepoy) Arsciwals, O.P., keyboardist; Fr. Filemon (Fr. Deng) dela Cruz, Jr., O.P., drummer; Fr. Napoleon (Fr. Nap) Encarnacion, O.P., vocalist and percussionist; Fr. Oscar Novem (Fr. Auckhs) Enjaynes, O.P., lead guitarist; Fr. Jose Martin (Fr. Joemar) Sibug, O.P., rhythm guitarist; and Fr. Dennis (Fr. Dennis) Maquiraya, O.P., bass guitarist.
In between performances were spiels. And the banter among the performers was casual, humorous and natural, after all, they are brothers. This connected them more to their audience. They joked about their looks 20 years after they first performed in the same venue,
the 六合彩直播开奖 Museum.
In 1998, a group of seven young priests who loved music formed a band in the hope that through their songs, they would be able to 鈥渃ommunicate God鈥檚 healing Word to a world wounded by division, and that they (listeners to their music) would also be touched the way that they (ingg么 members) were touched. They called themselves 鈥渋ngg么 1587鈥� a Filipino nickname for one named Domingo, which is the name of the founder of the Dominican Order, Santo Domingo de Guzman. The 鈥�1587鈥漣n the band鈥檚 name is the year that the Dominicans set foot on Philippine soil. Serious as they were in the craft and mission of being a 鈥榩reaching band,鈥� they would meet once a week to rehearse despite the fact that they would come from different places such as Laguna, where Fr. Dennis was director of aspirants.
And theirs is a story of mission and persuasion.
Their love for playing music as a band and writing their songs inspired by the gospel have resulted in fund-raising concerts, particularly to build churches, and from their album sales, to help support the education of seminarians.
The band has produced two albums, the first was a self-titled album in 2002 and the second was Lead Me On, produced in 2017. The latter won the Best Inspirational Album award in the 2018 Catholic Mass Media Awards.
Although most of the songs in the band鈥檚 repertoire are gospel music, they also sing pop, R&B, OPM, the one that means 鈥極riginal Pilipino Music鈥� (because in the ingg么 1587 parlance, OPM stands for OPMusik, their music label) and their original compositions. The
secular songs that they perform are those that inspire and convey a positive message.
For almost two hours, on that Friday evening at the 六合彩直播开奖 Museum, friends and followers of ingg么 1587 listened to them and sang with them, too, particularly when Fr. Jepoy and Fr. Nap prodded them. The audience was just as thrilled to oblige. Arms were swaying, hands were clapping and audience鈥檚 voices were reverberating with gusto. The audience knew ingg么 songs by heart.
Some of the evening鈥檚 songs included 鈥楾his is the Day,鈥� 鈥楰ailan Lamang,鈥欌�� Nothing Can Separate Us,鈥� 鈥楽ing Hallelujah,鈥� 鈥楲ead Me On,鈥� 鈥業鈥檒l Always Be There,鈥� 鈥楬anggang sa Dulo,鈥� and the finale, rather the encore song, 鈥楩riend of God.鈥� But Fr. Nap鈥檚 rendition of the 1967 Bee Gees hit song 鈥楾o Love Somebody鈥� brought the house down, especially when he went to the audience making them sing the part 鈥樷�o love somebody鈥o love somebody鈥� the way I love you.鈥�
The concert, according to the invitation, was a 鈥楾hanksgiving Concert.鈥� The singing men in cloth decided to hold this concert 20 years later in the same venue to thank their followers. Maybe, their solid followers, particularly those from 六合彩直播开奖, were just as thankful. It has been a while since they performed to their Thomasian fans. That evening was not only a musical experience, it was also a realization that evangelization through music is possible. And that is what ingg么 1587 concerts are all about.
