UPD HASPAG – UPD Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts

We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for the UP Diliman Honorific Award for Student Performing Arts Group (UPD-HASPAG) Cycle 4 (2026-2029).

Guidelines, criteria, and application forms may be downloaded from https://bit.ly/UPDHASPAG.

Interested performing organizations should accomplish the Intent to Apply form on or before 17 February 2026 through bit.ly/UPDHASPAGApplication to start the application process.

For further inquiries, you may contact us via email at haspag_pasp_oica.upd@up.edu.ph.

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The UP Diliman Honorific Award for Student Performing Arts Group (UPD HASPAG) is an awards system under the Artist Support Program of the UP Diliman Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (UPD-OICA). It gives qualified groups the honorific title “Official Student Performing Arts Group of UP Diliman (OSPAG).” The OSPAG holds the appointment for three years and is entitled to an annual incentive grant of PhP250,000.00 to be used for the group’s major productions.

UP Concert Chorus (UPCC)

Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino (Kontra-GaPi)

The UP Repertory Company (UPRep)

The U.P. Singing Ambassadors (UPSA)

Tugtugang Musika Asyatika (TUGMA)

UPD HASPAG awardees for 2023-2026: UP Concert Chorus (UPCC), Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino (Kontra-GaPi), The UP Repertory Company (UPRep), The U.P. Singing Ambassadors (UPSA), and Tugtugang Musika Asyatika (TUGMA)

*Parangal sa Mag-aaral 2024*. Photo by Jefferson Villacruz, UP Diliman Information Office

The UPD Honorific Award for Student Performing Arts Group (HASPAG) is a support program for student performing arts groups of UP Diliman. The duration of the award is three years and provides qualified groups an annual creative work grant of PhP250,000 per year for the group’s major productions, and the honorific title “Official Student Performing Arts Group” (OSPAG) of UP Diliman.

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UP Concert Chorus

The UP Concert Chorus (UPCC), or simply Korus, is an official performing group of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Established in 1962 under the leadership of the late Dean Reynaldo T. Paguio, Korus has become a veritable icon of choral performance arts in bridging musical genres such as classical, folk, pop, and Broadway, and as the pioneer of ChoreoCapella or choreographed a capella in the Philippines. With Prof. Janet Sabas-Aracama at its helm today, Korus continues to revolutionize the scene as an internationally-acclaimed performing group with prestigious awards such as the Grand Prix at the 6th International Krakow Choir Festival in Poland in 2015 besting 23 other choirs from all over Europe and the USA.

Email Address: upconcertchorus@gmail.com, theupconcertchorus@gmail.com

Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino (Kontra-GaPi)

Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino, more popularly known as Kontra-GaPi, was appointed resident gamelan or ethnic music and dance ensemble by the Dean of the UPD College of Arts and Letters (CAL) in February 1993.

Kontra-GaPi strives to express music and kindred arts from indigenous well-springs, using ideophones such as the kulintang and gangsa; chordophones like the hegalong and kulibet; aerophones such as the diwdiw-as and esmi; membranophones like the debakan and solibaw; and Cordilleran drums of varying sizes and shapes.

The group was formed by Prof. Pedro R. Abraham Jr. of CAL’s Department of Arts Studies in 1989 when he was asked to conceive a score for Dulaang UP’s production of August Strindberg’s “A Dream Play.” The music, for its ‘stunning exotic appeal,’ consistently received excellent reviews by critics, academics, students and regular theater-goers alike. This encouraged the then ad-hoc band to transform itself into an independent performing organization.

Over the years, the ensemble has presented more than a thousand shows for audiences of all types and age-groups in all kinds of venues, much more if one includes lecture-demonstrations, workshops in music and dance and other types of engagement.

For its commitment to Philippine culture and the arts, UP Kontra-GaPi was named an Official University Performing Arts Group under the UP Diliman HASPAG Program from 2016 up to the present.

Email Address: kontragapi@gmail.com

The UP Repertory Company

The UP Repertory Company (UP Rep) is a student theater organization established in 1972 by the late artist-activist Behn Cervantes as a socially responsible performing group, given deteriorating social conditions prevalent during the Martial Law period.

UP Rep’s wide repertoire of plays are written by National Artists and acclaimed writers. It has produced talents, most of whom are successful in their chosen field and has performed in venues outside the University.

For its commitment to Philippine culture and the arts, UP Rep was named an Official University Performing Arts Group under the UP Diliman HASPAG Program from 2016 up to the present.

Email Address: theup.repertorycompany@gmail.com

The U.P. Singing Ambassadors

The University of the Philippines Singing Ambassadors (UPSA) is one of the Philippines’ foremost choral groups. It was founded on August 12, 1980 by internationally-renowned conductor Edgardo Manguiat. From its humble beginnings at the Kalayaan Residence Hall of UP Diliman, it has gained recognition in prestigious choral competitions all over the world including the first Asian choir to win the Grand Prize in the Concorso Polifonico Internazionale Guido d’Arezzo in Italy twice (in 2001 and 2018). Today, this amateur choir with professional aspirations and an international prominence remains to find fulfillment in sharing their music to the less privileged who are constant recipients of their musical generosity through fundraising activities.

Email Address: upsa21@yahoo.com, theupsingingambassadors@gmail.com

Tugtugang Musika Asyatika

The UP Tugtugang Musika Asyatika (UP TUGMA) is an organization of Asian music student-performers in the country affiliated with the College of Music Department of Musicology. The organization was established to build and develop a more conscious audience base for Asian music and culture that has deep awareness of these traditions, and to raise the banner of Philippine indigenous music to the global community. In line with these, the organization regularly conducts workshops, field works, and performance nights. Members of the organization study and perform the Mindanao Kulintang Ensemble, the Cordillera Bamboo and Gong Ensemble, the Indonesian Gamelan, the Japanese Koto, the Chinese Sizhu and the Korean Samulnori.

UP TUGMA has represented and showcased Philippine music in a few cultural events abroad such as the International Country Music Week held in 2009 in Hunan, China, and the International Music and Dance Festival regularly held in Thailand years 2009, 2012, 2013, and 2015.

For its commitment to Philippine culture and the arts, UP TUGMA was named an Official University Performing Arts Group under the UP Diliman HASPAG Program from 2020 up to the present.

Email Address: tugtugangmusikaasyatika@gmail.com

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Call for Applications—UPD HASPAG Cycle 4