JERSEY CITY --- For Golda dela Merced, singing is her passion, something that she would do to entertain herself and a crowd.

But this time, the rising Filipino-American singer shared her talents to touch other Filipinos’ lives, especially those who want to earn their education but are less fortunate to afford sending themselves to school.

On Oct. 31, Golda did her first solo concert to benefit a scholarship program. She also launched her second CD album, which features original compositions by Vehnee Saturno and Jimmy Borja. Both are multi-awarded songwriters and producers in Manila who have written songs for such artists as Martin Nievera, Pops Fernandez, Regine Velasquez, Sharon Cuneta, Lani Misalucha, Ariel Rivera, Jolina Magdangal, and Sarah Geronimo.

Titled “Golda in Concert”, the event drew a sell-out audience at the Robert V. Van Fossan Theater at Bloomfield College, NJ. Part of its proceeds will go to Aurora Association’s Scholarship (AAS) program.

According to Gloria Guerrero Ramos, AAS president, the concert was to extend financial help to “intellectually gifted but economically disadvantaged students who had [otherwise] no chance to further even their secondary education.”

To date, 37 scholars have been provided full tuition and funds to cover dormitory fees, books and school supplies, as well as allowances for clothing, transportation and miscellaneous expenses.

“It was a concert of many ways,” Golda, a junior in Broadcast Communication at the William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ, said, adding that the kinship she feels with the scholars of the Aurora Association has been strengthened.

The concert included contemporary pop hits and original compositions by Saturno and Borja as well as by Golda’s father, Dr. Bernie dela Merced.

Guest singers were the sultry Grace Antonio, the dynamic Rose Marie Dawara, the irresistible Dr. Boy Pangan, and the velvet-voiced Mark Catarroja, who won the Philippine Fiesta Singing Contest in New Jersey last year.

The new CD, “Golda Unraveled,” contains 14 songs recorded over the past summer at Jimmy Borja’s studio in Los Angeles. An array of West Coast musicians played on the album produced by Saturno and Borja.

Since winning First Place at the Youth Festival Singing Contest in New York, sponsored by the Philippine Independence Day Committee, in 2000, as well as the Share Your Talent contest in Jersey City, sponsored by the Philippine American Friendship Committee and the Association of Filipino Teachers of America, Golda has been much in demand for community events.

She has been a featured singer at Philippine Independence Day celebrations in the New York and New Jersey areas for a number of years and has likewise shared the spotlight with top performers like Pilita Corrales, David Pomeranz, Anthony Castelo, Dawn Dineros, and Joe Mari Chan.

While attending Bloomfield High School, Golda sang with the school choir and the Madrigal Singers. She also played tenor sax for the school marching band and performed major roles in the school’s productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, West Side Story, and Hello Dolly. She is also the lead singer of the Band of Brothers, a live band that accompanied her at the concert. -- with reports from Sam Santamaria.