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| Moon Yang Sook Gayageum Ensemble, Byeong-in Park, Rachelle Gerodias, Jens Lindemann with Jong-hoon Bae and the Soecho Philharmonic Orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra |
A special music event, the Korean War Memorial Peace Concert, that gave tribute to the veterans of the Korean War and also celebrated the 70th Anniversary of Diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Korea was recently held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Presented by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, The Patriotic Cultural Association of Korea, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the concert featured performances and collaborations by musicians from the Philippines, Korea, and even Canada.
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| Korean Ambassador Dong-man Han |
The evening saw fifteen string musicians and a keyboardist from the Seocho Philharmonic Orchestra from Korea joining forces with members of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. This combined orchestra was led by Korean conductor Jong-hoon Bae.
The music started with Korean tunes like Ji-su Lee's Arirang Rhapsody performed by the joint orchestra. Korean baritone Byeong-in Park, a familiar figure to CCP audiences, followed singing Il-nam Jang's Bee Mok (Gravestone of Unknown Heroes), a Korean folk song commemorating Korean War Veterans. Canadian trumpet player gave a rousing performance of the 2nd and 3rd movements of Joseph Haydn's Trumpet Concerto in E flat major that made me wish the program allowed him to perform this music in its entirety.
Traditional Korean music instruments took to the stage as Yang-sook Moon then led her 11 member Moon Yang Sook Gayageum Ensemble with Harmony for Peace. This medley included Freddie Aguilar's song Anak midway and it got the audience applauding once the popular tune was recognized. Seeing a live gayageum performance is rare enough and to watch an ensemble was a sight to behold especially when seeing out how the various parts of the music were distributed to each member of the ensemble.
The second half of the concert shone the spotlight on the members of Seocho Philharmonic Orchestra with a performance of the 3rd movement of Summer of Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with Kyung-ah Kim (who was also that night's concertmaster) as the soloist. Just like in Lindemann's previous performance, I wish that the entire Summer concerto was performed at the very least.
Next was Filipina soprano Rachelle Gerodias who went all Violetta from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata with the aria È strano... Sempre libera complete with an impressive high E flat that got the audience showering her with applause. I was caught off guard when I heard her husband Byeong-in singing off stage as Alftedo since I anticipated the cello principal to play his part.
Byeong-in then went on stage again to sing the Korean folk song Bat No Rae (Boat Song) before bringing back his wife Rachelle for a duet of Libiamo ne' lieti calici, the famous drinking song from La Traviata. There is no one in the Philippine performing arts scene who best exemplifies Philippine-Korean relations than these two renowned classical/opera singers.
Before performing his next number, Jens Lindemann told the audience how he traveled across the world just to be at this concert. And he did some sort of traveling, towards the audience and across the stage, while playing a medley of Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla and Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona.
The Arirang Fantasy by Sung-whan Choi was scheduled to be the finale. But the orchestra, now with Lindemann sitting in with his fellow trumpeters, delighted the audience with an encore of Marcos Valle's Summer Samba. I like to believe that it was this piece that paved for good weather allowing me to arrive home without encountering a single drop of rain.
The concert was indeed entertaining and enlightening, a good selection of familiar music performed alongside with those that were new to my ears. But it must not be overlooked why this concert took place in the first place. As Korean pop culture continues immense popularity especially among the youth, what happened decades ago during the Korean War must never be forgotten. Especially considering how the Philippines played a part by sending 7,420 troops to fight for the freedom and peace that Korea enjoys right now.
The second half of the concert shone the spotlight on the members of Seocho Philharmonic Orchestra with a performance of the 3rd movement of Summer of Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with Kyung-ah Kim (who was also that night's concertmaster) as the soloist. Just like in Lindemann's previous performance, I wish that the entire Summer concerto was performed at the very least.
Next was Filipina soprano Rachelle Gerodias who went all Violetta from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata with the aria È strano... Sempre libera complete with an impressive high E flat that got the audience showering her with applause. I was caught off guard when I heard her husband Byeong-in singing off stage as Alftedo since I anticipated the cello principal to play his part.
Byeong-in then went on stage again to sing the Korean folk song Bat No Rae (Boat Song) before bringing back his wife Rachelle for a duet of Libiamo ne' lieti calici, the famous drinking song from La Traviata. There is no one in the Philippine performing arts scene who best exemplifies Philippine-Korean relations than these two renowned classical/opera singers.
Before performing his next number, Jens Lindemann told the audience how he traveled across the world just to be at this concert. And he did some sort of traveling, towards the audience and across the stage, while playing a medley of Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla and Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona.
The Arirang Fantasy by Sung-whan Choi was scheduled to be the finale. But the orchestra, now with Lindemann sitting in with his fellow trumpeters, delighted the audience with an encore of Marcos Valle's Summer Samba. I like to believe that it was this piece that paved for good weather allowing me to arrive home without encountering a single drop of rain.
The concert was indeed entertaining and enlightening, a good selection of familiar music performed alongside with those that were new to my ears. But it must not be overlooked why this concert took place in the first place. As Korean pop culture continues immense popularity especially among the youth, what happened decades ago during the Korean War must never be forgotten. Especially considering how the Philippines played a part by sending 7,420 troops to fight for the freedom and peace that Korea enjoys right now.
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