JEDDAH, 13 July 2006 — Serenata, the Filipino children’s choir in Jeddah, will begin screening new members tomorrow for its second season.

Audition starts at 9 a.m. at the Sunrise International School. A second one will be held at the same time and place on July 21.

Serenata officials said the audition is open to children between 8-13 years.

Applicants will be tested by their prepared song piece, an a cappella on the Philippine National Anthem, and a test for tonal memory.

Some of last season’s batch of 45 will be retained based on several criteria set by choir director Sylvia Delos Santos.

Serenata also sports a new set of officers, with Joey Samonte as chairman, Louie Bautista as vice chairman, and Kiel Erida, Arnel Hipos, Ajid and Juliet Sayas as members.

Samonte said that in addition to being trained on singing, the members will get dance and artistic lessons from Renegrace Villarosa-Divina, who orchestrated the artistic choreography of the first Serenata concert last March.

Samonte said the choir’s future activities include personality enhancement, leadership training, a Toastmasters course and theater workshop.

In its debut concert, Serenata raised 100,000 pesos ($1,900) for victims of the Leyte landslide in the Philippines.

Sheikh Khaled A Bagedo, owner of KAB Holdings, sponsored the amount.

Ayman Safadi, KAB’s general manager for business development, said: “We were amazed by the talent of these children. With their young age, they already have the heart of helping those who are in need in the Philippines.”

He added that KAB Holdings will continue to be a partner of Serenata.