By Krysha Lyn De Juan
Voice Acting Academy Philippines (formerly Philippine Center for Voice Acting) and CreatiVoices Productions recognized 40 students for participating in the Certified Voice Artist Program (CVAP) last April 9. Out of 40 enrollees for the program's twelfth batch, 37 were hailed as Certified Voice Artists.
In 2020, CVAP was born as Mr. Pocholo "The VoiceMaster" Gonzales executed one of his visions, creating the first-ever course that certifies voice artists in the Philippines. CVAP runs for five days, encompassing relevant topics about the voice artistry and industry through mentorship from its very own graduates. They have been successful in their voicing career after joining the program. There is so much more to the program's academic side, and the participants' outputs do testify to the program's effectiveness.
CVAP opened its doors for the twelfth batch; a public invitation months before the five-day program. The training commenced on March 5, 2022. The program fee has been halved to accommodate aspirants who fall short with finances, even burdened by what the pandemic brought. Graduates from previous batches gave scholarship grants to aspirants who proved their desire to go to the depths of the voice artistry and industry.
As much as Mr. Pocholo "The VoiceMaster" Gonzales welcomes young and abled aspirants, he also greatly encourages senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWD) to join the program. With those accommodations, around 65% of the batch were enrolled as scholars, and about 37% were senior citizens and PWDs.
April 9, 2022, marked the last day of the five-day program for the twelfth batch. It lasted for more than five hours. CVAP graduation day is called InVoicetiture, a coined word of "investiture," making it more related to the program's purpose. It was also the day when everyone presented some of the crafts as subgroups.
Watch the Batch 12 Original Radio Drama Recital
As part of its completion, enrollees were told to prepare a group dubbing output and a batch recital during the program. The batch has to present two original radio dramas in the recital, pre-recorded at two hours maximum. The batch prepared and polished the recital as a whole radio program from billboard to billboard for the drama, with radio commercials and public announcements in-between parts.
It was a happy day for the enrollees, the CVAP secretariat, and trainers, as it was the most anticipated day of the whole program. But, listening to the recital output of the batch had been a roller-coaster of emotions for everyone. Presentations were followed by the certification proper. The 37 graduates who successfully complied with the CVAP requirements were announced and given certification numbers.
Of course, it ended with a congratulatory speech from none other than the pioneer, Mr. Pocholo "The VoiceMaster" Gonzales. Pocholo constantly reminds fellow voice artists to extend help to those who need it and to those who might need it, choose to be kind, create positive social change, and live to the CVAP mantra.
Later that day, a general membership meeting was held. It was also when CVAP's twelfth batch's nominees for quality individual and group outputs were announced and winners awarded. This means the organization now has certified a total of 668 voice artists.
To those interested in joining the Certified Voice Artist Program (CVAP), kindly visit the website certifiedvoiceartist.com. For inquiries, reach out via Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CertifiedVoiceArtist or email Ms. Nikie Esmero at nikie@creativoices.com.