Summer Rendezvous Concert for a Cause

Mountain View College Alumni Association-Loma Linda Chapter (MVCAA) hosted the William Chunestudy Men's Chorus at the Loma Linda Filipino Seventh-day Adventist Church last Saturday July 19. To start off the evening, Dohnn Deriquito, a saxophonist, played a quick set on both the regular saxophone and mini sax. Songs he played included "St. Elmos Fire" and "Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso." Over 20 men made up the chorus who sung renditions of Christian songs including "Veni Veni Emmanuel", "Amazing Grace", and "Jacob's Ladder." The group accompanied Stephanie Jones, a soprano vocalist, as she performed "Mary, Did You Know." Following intermission, the group went into acapella numbers as well as a few up-tempo songs including "Go Tell It On The Mountain." Formed in late 2006, the members of the chorus came from all over the Inland Empire in support of spreading the word of God and his love through music. Director Dr. Williams Chunestudy gave a short history of their group, shared some spiritual background regarding the songs they chose, and explained why they were wearing Hawaiian shirts (they went looking for the traditional Filipino dress shirt, Barong, but could not find them so wore Hawaiian shirts instead). The group has performed in several churches, civic centers, and other educational programs throughout the region and in 2013 they released their first CD called "We Have This Hope." The MVCAA Loma Linda Chapter held the Summer Rendezvous Concert in hopes of raising money for the Mountain View College in Valencia, Bukidnon in the Philippines. "There are many projects that need to get completed," said Rollie Donato, MVCAA President of Loma Linda Chapter. Those projects include putting down new roads leading to the campus, building expansions and remodeling for the school itself as well as little projects here and there for the campus overall.