Any of the members are qualified to suggest a potential recruit. One's "worth" has already been proven by virtue of being a member, hence the validity of his/her suggestion is never in question.

The members then try to find out if potential recruits are interested in joining the ministry - and are asked to audition.

Auditioning is required because more often than not, only the potential recruit's vocal ability has been vouched for - which obviously isn't enough. Hence a series of formal auditions and interviews are required by the group to gauge if the recruit is indeed fit to become a member.

Same goes for titles such as "Bukas Palad Choir" - while Bukas Palad is, indeed, a choir (a group of singers), the title does not encompass what the thrust of the group actually is, which is more than singing or performing, but rather spreading the word of God and bringing hope to those who are reached by our songs in the hope that in those songs they find their own voices.

In a nutshell, if the question were that of the group's preference, then "Bukas Palad," or "The Bukas Palad Music Ministry" would have to be the first choices.

BP is self explanatory - as it is just an informal way to refer to the ministry in everyday context (or if you're too lazy to speak the whole name, which we usually are.)

Regardless of preferences however, we can accept any variant of the name as long as it is properly used in a sentence.. The misuse of the definite article "the" is usually the culprit of introductions gone awry. Most people may not take much notice, but since the group has its share of english teachers/professors, we never hear the end of it!

Two basic rules can simply be applied to correct this mistake:

• The definite article shows that a noun is being used in a defined or restricted context.
• When a noun is used in a non-defined or generalizing context, a definite article is not needed.

"Bukas Palad," on its own, falls under the second rule, same as Madonna, Sting, etc. (and if you must have an example of a name with more than one word, try "Ben Folds Five", or "Hootie and the Blowfish").

"Bukas Palad Music Ministry" falls under the first rule, as the name "Bukas Palad" is taken in a defined context - that of being a music ministry.

So "Introducing The Bukas Palad Music Ministry," sounds much better than "Introducing Bukas Palad Music Ministry." But "Introducing Bukas Palad" is certainly better than "Introducing The Bukas Palad."

For a bit of trivia - BP is now a registered legal entity! Our legal entity name can be found in the footer of the website - "Bukas Palad Music Ministry Foundation, Inc."

Though we, having a legal entity name, may sound "official," the dynamics of the group has never changed.We always have been, and always will be, a a group of friends - a diverse group of individuals- driven by an unwavering commitment, that is to spread God's love through song.

However there are some instances that certain members are indeed paid. This is usually for very specialized tasks which only a single person/or select few can do (e.g. song arrangement, promotional collateral design, etc.).

First order of business is always song practice (or learning) for whatever upcoming performance/engagement. After the vocal rehearsal, we focus on the logistical concerns of those events. All other concerns relevant to the ministry are also discussed during the business meeting - these usually come in the form of invitations to workshops, concerts, or weddings.

Tuesday and Thursday rehearsals / meetings usually take around 3 hours.Depending on the demands of the engagement/event, though, 3 hours may stretch to 4 hours or even to additional practice days, as the need arises.

However, if you sense that your question isn't for the public to see, then feel free to send an email to info@bukaspalad.com which the overall coordinator checks dilligently (or so we all hope).

Kidding aside - rest assured, we will do our best to respond to your inquiry as quickly as possible!

Unfortunately, we cannot post personal member information. Instead, we suggest that you send an email to info@bukaspalad.com where we will see to it that the matter would be relegated to the people in charge.

If you wish to pursue legal action against us, then we can be found in the nearest church, praying to God to deliver us from you... you mean, evil person!

The reason for this is most, if not all, the songs found in the earlier tapes are found in the "Best of' CDs. And Pasko Na! has already been re-produced to CD format (of course some songs have also been rearranged).

The sad truth is that for the older versions of songs like "The Christ Child," we will never get to hear them from a CD. But for the other songs that haven't made it to the "Best of" series, then there is still a chance that they will be re-arranged/recorded in the upcoming albums.

The webmaster is aware that this isn't the most backward-compatible site, but it is backward-compatible enough for any "decent" browser... anything that doesn't render it correctly can be said to be unacceptable by any web standard nowadays. As much as backwards-compatibility for the benefit of the end user is nice, there is a line to be drawn when you have to sacrifice performance/visual experience just to "accomodate" the late adopters... which is counter-productive in a very technological environement such as the internet.

Suffice to say, that if the site doesn't render correctly, it's not that the site's too new - but your browser being too old!

The site makes heavy use of layer compositing which, in a windows environment, would require you to at the very least have Internet Explorer with a version of at least 6.0 (which is the first icon) .

In the Apple environment (which this site was developed with) Safari can handle it, but it wont work with IE for Mac - but who uses IE for Mac anyway?.

And of course the webmaster would like to make the net better place to surf in, and so he added the link to the best browser out there: Mozilla Firefox (the second icon). Don't ask why, just get it, install it and don't look back... you won't regret it!

The third icon is that of the Macromedia Flash Player which is necessary to play any audioclip. The webmaster opted to abandon any other proprietary streaming software (e.g. realplayer/quicktime) in favor of Flash because most if not all up-to-date browsers have it built-in. If it should still not work, then simply update your Flash player by clicking on the icon.

Last but not least is the Adobe Acrobat Reader, for viewing the standard portable document format (PDF) to ensure all document layouts, fonts, etc. are preserved.

The site is best viewed on a 800x600 (or higher) monitor resolution.

No explorers, foxes, flashers or acrobats were harmed during the development of this site.

The Jesuit Music Ministry houses and handles artists, including different Ateneo-based choirs such as Hangad, Bukas Palad, Himig Heswita, among others. Even solo artists such as Noel Cabangon are also part of the Jesuit Music Ministry.

The structural relationship between JMM and JesCom may be analogous to Globe Telecom and Ayala.

While the group (as Bukas Palad) can be seen singing at churches here and there, it is because they were invited to do so.

The individual members attend Sunday masses in their respective parishes.

First off, in the strictest sense of the concept, we are NOT an Ateneo-based choir. To be an Ateneo-based choir, you have to be sanctioned by the school.

What does this entail?

• You are considered to be a representative of the school. As members' actions reflect the essence of the group, the group's actions will reflect the school which it represents.
• With this great responsibility, comes reward however - the school is then expected to give its support, by whichever means nessesary for the group to achieve its goal (which is usually inline with the school)
• You also will have the right to bear the school's name in your title (if you so choose). Such as the "Ateneo de Manila High School/College Glee Club(s)," or the "Ateneo Catechetical Instruction League."

So to reiterate Bukas Palad is not an Ateneo-based choir in the strictest sense. The group however has a very strong affinity to Ateneo. Here are some of the reasons why one might mistakenly consider BP to ba an "Ateneo choir."

• Majority of its members came from, or are currently connected, to the School (teachers, alumni, students). Also that it is part of JMM/JesCom.
• The group's meetings are held in the Sonolux bldg, which is in Ateneo, and in turn, can be considered as the "headquarters."
• The group's Vission-Mission too, is very Ignatian which is because of the nature of of the creation of the ministry, the foundation of it's spirituality which is translated to it's songs, and the Ateneo education that most of its members have gone through.

And for all these blessings we have recieved, the love, and gratitude we have towards the school will remain in our hearts.

One reason is that can be considered as piracy - though the songs are ours, we also have standing relationships with labels and organizations that sell our merchandise. Providing full audio downloads will be a conflict of interest.

There are no guarantees that a direct request of merchandise from the group will be fulfilled. If you have any need for support with regards to merchandise, the best people to contact would be the Jesuit Music Ministry.

In any case, such an issue prompted the creation of the "Transcriptions" section of the messageboard - wherein people can request and receive at the very least the chords needed to play the accompaninent.

Of course this isn't a replacement for purchasing the actual songbooks, but is a viable alternative for those extreme situations wherein you have to learn the songs but do not have the practical means to acquire the songbooks.

To subscribe, text BUKASPALAD and send to 2978 (Globe) or 326 (Smart).

To send a message to the group, text BUKASPALAD <your message> and send to 2978 or 326 (ex. BUKASPALAD Hello! Kelan ang next concert nyo?).

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