How did it all begin?
Project Hinalad, which translates “offered/committed/devoted,” was only a brainstorm of ideas in 2014, the year following the launching of Unang Huni, a collection of similar nature which Dr. Jean Cuanan-Nalam compiled and edited, and of which her co-editor, Dr. Dave Jan Fabe, contributed a substantial number of song compositions. They had planned to start off with this project, however, their busy schedules barred them from doing so.
At the onset of the 2020 pandemic, the month of March, Jean and Dave decided to make use of the quarantine period to pursue what they had discussed. After four months of writing their original songs and gathering some compositions from Cebuano composers, including former students of the Divinity School Liturgy and Music program, the targeted number of songs were all completed, and the rest was history.
Unang Huni was the first attempt to add more Cebuano anthems to the meager sources of church music material written in the local tongue. Hinalad marks as the second, this time, with more liturgical responses, more anthems, and with more Cebuano composers and lyricists involved. A few anthems have both appeared in UnangHuni and Hinalad but with different arrangements. Still a few are presented in two versions (e.g. for small choirs, for big choirs) to give more options to church choirs in their music selection. The order of the songs are modeled from the conventional worship flow common in many Cebuano churches, beginning with Pasiunang Huni and ending with Tubag-Awit sa Panalangin.
From just merely a collection of Cebuano church music, we have expanded into a website that includes more worship resources.
