A respected  Filipino anthropologist, Dr. Prospero Covar, who got his  doctoral  degree from  the University  of Arizona,  is a professor of  Anthropology at  the  UP. He's a noted  Filipinologist  who has written articles and lectured  on the culture of the Tagalogs in particular and the Filipinos in general.  He was awarded  the 1998 Gawad Lope K. Santos  for his studies  on language and culture.

Dr. Pope Covar has been choir singing since 1955. He's been singing   regularly   for  quite  sometime  at   CRL  with   wife Miriam. He has  served  as Chairman of the Church  Council of CRL  where he's jokingly referred to as "the Pope".

Mimi, as she is fondly called, is the Music Ministry Coordinator at   CRL.  A  veteran  soprano,  she  has  sung  with  the  Manila Concert Choir, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Baguio Chorale, Ellinwood-Malate  Church  Choir,  Philippine  Concert  Choir  of  Chicago,  the  Philippine  United  Church   of  Christ  in  Chicago  Choir.  She  joined  the  CRL Choir  in the 1980s  and  has  been singing  with  the  Choir regularly, when she's in  the Philippines. A  past  president  of  the Choir, she also served as Chair of  the Spiritual Nurture and Outreach Committee in 1998.

Mimi used to teach ballet at the College of the Holy Spirit and  at  the  Maria  Montessori   School   where  she  also  handled preschoolers. 

ALEXANDER C. CORTEZ
Director 
Skills Enrichment Program

Alex,  in addition  to acting  and directing, teaches theater arts at the UP and conducts theater workshops all over the country.He is Managing Director of Dulaang UP  which  in 1998  staged  his  production The Trial/Ang Paglilitis, the play that won for him  the 1998 Gawad  Chancellor  Awards  for Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Creative Work.

Alex has been with the Choir since his student days at the UP.  He has served  the Choir  as  past president  and  as Director for Skills Enrichment  Program.  He also actively helps Naomi Damian in the planning  and coordinating the Choir's outreach activities.

Miriam is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Family Life and  Child Development, College of Home Economics atUP where she's finishing her doctoral degree. She has an M.S. in  Child  Development  and Family  Relations (University  of Arizona) and was recipient of the AID-NEDA Travel Grant to Israel  in  1987 and of  the  Golda Meir International Training Center Tour Program to Haifa, Israel. She's wife to the "Pope"and  mother  to  Verna (Senior Project Officer, Department  of Tourism) and Melanie (Mathematics Specialist).

Miriam  is  an  excellent planner and economy wizard as far as delicious  food  sevice  is  concerned   --no wonder she's  now serving her third term.

Glo, as  she's popularly known,  is a dynamo when  it  comes to projects that reach out to others. A botanist by profession, she once devoted her time as the "Lord's Gardener" at CRL where she organized the Mayana Club, among others; and where she's past president of the Women's Guild and member of the Church Council.  She's  also  actively involved in the Red Cross and the Abanse Pinay.

Glo joined the Choir in April 1998 with daughter Punay. She was elected  last  June  afterwhich  she  energized  the  Scholarship Program with scholars and funds.

Puring, a  fellow  at Life Management Institute, is Agency Manager for Grepalife. She's an awardee of the International Order of Gregg Shorthand  Artists, a  Founding Director of Graphic Communication and  Multimedia  Design, and  the incumbent President of  the CRL Women's Guild.

She's sang with the choirs of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Sampaloc, Manila and the Asbury First United Methodist Church at Los Angeles, California. She joined the CRL Choir  three years ago and  has  served  as its Secretary since last year.  She is the official greeter and "Postmaster" of the Choir.

Jessie, who  dabbles in language and  linguistics, is a language tutor and translator.She earned her M.A. in Linguistics at the UP where she used to teach Linguistics and Introduction to Social Science.

Together with  husband Nene, she  joined the Choir five years  ago  and has served the Choir as Treasurer (1996) and President (1997-1999).