A night full of music and ensemble showcased by De La Salle-Santiago Zobel School Chorale and Orchestra with performances from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s Music Production program students filled the SDA Theater last January 11 for the CollBROration: A Benefit Concert in line with Br. Dennis Magbanua’s FSC 46th birthday.

De La Salle-Zobel took the opening performance and played various popular songs with their own rendition, such as I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You and Sana’y Maghintay ang Walang Hanggan while bands from the Music Production program Banna Harbera and Agsunta performed their own compositions of Original Pilipino Music.

Shared her greetings to Br. Dennis’ special day was Benilde Alumna and Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong. The reigning Queen then took the privilege to impart her gratitude to the College for being her second family and also presented the advocacies of the Miss Earth beauty pageant.

“In Benilde, everybody has a place called home and definitively this one [is] closest to my heart. I should say that this is one of the institutions or one of the places where I can be myself, where I can be comfortable, where I [could] say I’ve grown into the woman I am today,” Ms. Ong shared in her speech.

Before the last performance, Br. Dennis extended his overwhelming appreciation for coming to the night’s event and announced the recently recognition of the College by the Commission on Higher Education for being Center of Excellence in the School of Management and Information Technology (SMIT) and School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management (SHRIM) with the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU) Level 4 Accreditation.

The night ended with a joint performance by De La Salle-Zobel’s Chorale and Orchestra with the Music Production program of their own version of Pharrel William’s Happy.

CollaBROration is a beneficial concert organized by the College’s Office of the President and Benilde Student Groups to raise funds and donations for the beneficiaries of Saint Joseph High School-La Salle’s scholarship program and De La Salle-Zobel’s Goodbye Gutom program.

Photo by Sace Natividad and Mark Baltazar