Sunday, October 25, 2020

Rachelle Gerodias, Byeong-In Park online fundraising concert returns online

The online fundraising concert Build My Church on a Song featuring soprano Rachelle Gerodias and baritone Byeong-In Park returns for an encore viewing from October 25, 2020, 8:00 PM until November 8, 2020, 11:00 PM at the Santuario de San Antonio Parish's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

This concert, first available to view online last October 4, 2020 up to October 11, 2020 is a part of this year's FrancisFest celebrations that aims to raise funds for the construction of the St. Clare de Assisi Parish in Dagat-dagatan that will service the neighboring cities of Malabon and Navotas and for other outreach programs as well.

Soprano Rachelle Gerodias and baritone Byeong-In Park

The concert features the real life couple of Rachelle and Byeong-In performing opera arias, musical theater showstoppers, Filipino tunes and sacred music.

Donations are still welcome via bank deposit to:

SSAP Foundation Inc.

BPI 0291-0395-96

Or through Paypal:

http://tinyurl.com/paypalssap

For inquiries or more details, please send a message to ssap_info@yahoo.com.

Saturday, October 24, 2020

PPO launches chamber music concert series

As live performances (including concerts) still prohibited due to the ongoing pandemic, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra launches a new series devoted to chamber music and small ensemble performances.

Billed as the PPO Chamber Concert Series, the first concert will stream online on October 30, 2020, 8:00 PM at the Facebook page of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Facebook page and YouTube channel of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

This upcoming series, to be shot on location at the CCP, will feature a selection of chamber music curated by the PPO's music director/principal conductor Yoshikazu Fukumura to be performed by members of the PPO.

The inaugural concert on  October 30, 2020, will focus on string instruments with PPO concertmaster and violinist Dino Akira Decena and cellist Giancarlo Gonzales performing Franz Anton Hoffmeister’s Duet for Violin and Cello in C Major, Op. 6 No. 1. The program will also consist of Gioachino Rossini’s Sonata for 2 Violins, Cello, and Double Bass No. 2 in A Major to be performed by violinists Jose Carlo Tuazon and Berny Dulce Payte, cellist Giuseppe Diestro, and double bassist Ariston Payte III.

The next installment of the series, streaming online on November 27, 2020, switches its focus towards the wind instruments. Program will include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Serenade for 3 Clarinets No. 1 K. Anh. 229/KV 439b performed by clarinettists Ariel Sta. Ana, Jayson Rivera, and Hernan Manalastas. It will be followed by Georgina Sánchez's Pregón de Danza for Clarinet and Cello to be performed by clarinettist Jayson Rivera and cellist Gerry Graham Gonzales.

The rest of the program includes Gioachino Rossini's Woodwind Quartet No. 4 in B flat Major featuring flutist Rosemarie Poblete, clarinettist Ariel Sta. Ana, bassoonist Frenvee Andra, and French horn player Ernani Pascual and will conclude with a performance of Ney Rosauro's Two Pieces for Flute and Marimba Op. 39 with flutist Hercules Santiago and marimba player Aimee De la Cruz.

As the series will be shot at the CCP, the change in scenery is a welcome change from all the housebound, lockdown/quarantine performances that has flooded the web ever since the pandemic began.

Lastly, chamber music performances have been overshadowed by full orchestra concerts for years now. It is a bitter pill to swallow that it has taken a pandemic and its subsequent restrictions to turn the spotlight on smaller ensembles. May this upcoming series provide the jump start, however unconventional it might be, for more chamber music performances once things go back to normal.