Mus'ka

The members of Mus'ka met during the auditions for the movie, mga Munting Tinig at the LVN studio compound in March 2002. Over 150 applicants auditioned but only 9 boys and 6 girls met Gil M. Portes's standards[5] After filming was completed, Rosas Records communicated with the six kids in the movie—Pierro, Cyline, Jocel, Rowell, Keno and Myko—to arrange a Pop group along with two other selected members, Michelle (Miss Enchanted Kingdom Talent and Smile) and Hazel (stage performer and singer), to form Mus'ka. The word Mus'ka is derived from the original term, Musika. The letter "I", indicating the first person singular pronoun, was omitted for the simple reason that the kids' mission is to sing together in harmony and to perform with a love for music. The name also means that the love for music resides in everyone and everyone is free for everyone.

In September 2002, the 8 members of Mus'ka started recording and rehearsing for their performances. They trained for almost 4 months under the watchful eye of their mentor, choreographer and manager, along with their composers, music arrangers, and vocal coach. Their first performance took place at the Farmer's Plaza Mall on December 21, 2002 and they released their first album on the same day. The departure of short-term member Hazel Dacanay was replaced by a theater performer, Zaira.

Mus'ka performed in different malls in the Philippines such as Ali Mall, Ever Gotesco, Star mall and in all branches of SM super malls. German Moreno engaged them to perform once a month on his Master showman TV show in GMA.

In the spring of 2003, Mus'ka appeared as guests on T.V., in a mall tour and out of town performances. They also recorded additional songs ("Magulang ko mahal ko" and "A better Future") to include in their first album.

In June 2003, Mus'ka was invited to perform in the hit morning show of ABS-CBN, Magandang Umaga Bayan, where they sang an original composition for the Independence Day segment. Shortly after their T.V. appearance, Mus'ka appeared on the cover of Philippine Magazine Liwayway on June 16, 2003,[6] as well as Movie Star Magazine and Flash Movie Magazine. In 2003 Warner Brothers bought the distribution rights of the Mga Munting Tinig movie, starring Alessandra De Rossi,[7] and it was once again shown to the public. The film won many awards in the Philippines and abroad. This was the time when one of the Mus'ka members, Pierro Rodriguez, was nominated for the best new actor in the PMPC Star Awards for his role in the film.

Mus'ka was nominated as the best new group by the award giving body at the Aliw Awards. In October 2003, the group performed at the Cainta, Rizal gymnasium for a mini-concert with the students of the Sacred heart Catholic School of Cainta. Rosas Records announced in September that Mus'ka would have their first major concert at the Folk Arts Theater on December 7, 2003 together with actress and pop star Jolina Magdangal and hosted by German Moreno.[3][4] Several schools participated in the event including a major orphanage in the Philippines. The concert launched all the songs of Mus'ka with an additional song "Manood kayo saamin" that served as their opening number for the concert. The song "Magulang ko Mahal ko" was dedicated to all the parents in the event. The huge concert was directed by Robert Tongko.

In the summer of 2004, Mus'ka was invited by the officials of Marinduque to have a concert on that island. The Mus'ka members, with their parents and manager, stayed on the Island for more than two weeks, attending radio programs, making personal appearances, and other publicity events.

December 16, 2004 was the date for the Second Children's Power concert, held at the Cuneta Astrodome. This time, the concert became a gathering of different schools to showcase talents in singing and dancing. The Mus'ka performed their own version of "My funny Valentine", "Graduation day", "Celebrate", "Holiday" and "That's The Way I Like It", accompanied by "The Sisters", Jam and Toni Rodriguez. Michelle Rodriguez was voted the most popular Mus'ka member in the event.

In the summer of 2005, Rosas Records announced that Mus'ka would make a movie with Camille Prats and Marco Alcaraz.[8] The movie, Mga batang Bangketa, started filming in August 2005 with the theme song "Magulang ko Mahal ko" by Mus'ka; the movie serves as the third Children's Power. Mga Batang Bangketa premiered in February 2006.[9][10]

In February 2006 the movie was shown to over 30 cinemas in the Philippines.[10] In April 2006, Mus'ka was invited to perform in Pagsanjan.

Rosas Records announced that the six members of Mus'ka would have their own Entertainment talk show on RJTV the first week of October. A Talk show was named after their song "kKaibigan" (composed by Ton Llantada). It was hosted by Mus'ka members and was co-hosted by Cherry Chastain. The T.V. show featured stories about different places and events in the Philippines; it also discussed different customs and the traditions of different cultures. The FAMAS board of directors and Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte were some of the guests that appeared in the Kaibigan show of Mus'ka. Several schools were also given the chance to perform on the show.

• December 2006- the 4th Children's Power was held at the Amoranto sports complex.

The Kaibigan T.V. show made it up to a second season. Jocel Escobal, meanwhile, requested to leave the group for a while to rest. The five Mus'ka members continued hosting the T.V program and continued performing in mall shows. In the third season (April 2007), the T.V show opened a new segment: a singing contests called "Pinoy Yata Ako". Season 4 (August 2007)of The Kaibigan program was followed by the return of Jocel Escobal to Mus'ka. After four seasons in RJTV, the T.V. show finally said goodbye to the viewers on October 27, 2007.

• The 5th Children's Power (December 15, 2007) was held at the Amoranto Sports Theater with over 15 school participants.

The Mus'ka Group continued with their usual Performances in Marikina Riverbanks, Ever Gotesco Ortigas and Common Wealth, Sta Lucia Malls and Robinsons malls, with a Radio Program at DWBL once a week. The 2nd round for the Pinoy Yata Ako singing contest also took place.

The Mus'ka had their first performance of the 2009 year at the Broadway Centrum Stars Plaza accompanied by several performances in different malls and events. They had begun collaborating with another radio station, DWDD Armed Forces Radio. In December 2009 Mus'ka had a Christmas part at Ever Gotesco Ortigas and the party was dedicated to helping typhoon victims of Ondoy.

February 14, 2010 was the performance date of the 7th Children's Power of the Mus'ka at Amoranto Sports Theater. Over 15 schools attended and participated in the event. After Children's Power, the group was invited to channel 13 for a guest appearance. Currently the Mus'ka members are busy rehearsing new songs and performances for 2011 and of course the 8th Children's power.