Szymon Nehring's Chopin dazzles at PPO's 2026 opener

Jeffrey Ching, Glober, Calambro, Andión Fernandez, Diomedes Saraza Jr.
Grzegorz Nowak, Szymon Nehring, Jonathan Velasco, and Dennis Marasigan

Back in October 2025, music lovers had their fill of Frédéric Chopin's music while the XIX International Chopin Piano Competition was underway. The devoted were glued to the livestreams during unholy hours while those valued sleep opted to watch the uploaded videos later on. But nothing still beats watching a well performed Chopin, especially one of his piano concertos, live. Thankfully, Polish pianist Szymon Nehring was recently in town for the latest concert of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), thus able to fulfill that craving for a live Chopin performance.

For his stint with the PPO, Nehring harkened back to his days as a finalist at the XVII International Chopin Piano Competition back in 2015 by performing Chopin's Piano Concerto in E minor, Op. 11, the same piece he played at the competition's final round. Under the baton of Maestro Grzegorz Nowak, Nehring dazzled with his familiar and comfortable take on Chopin. He generated excitement through his impeccable musicality especially with his elegant phrasing of the second movement Romanze. His technical mastery was also on full display at the third movement Rondo that prompted some audience members to applaud even before the final note of the orchestra ended.

An étude or any of Chopin's miniatures would've sufficed for an encore, but Nehring felt very generous performed Chopin's Grande polonaise brillante, Op.22 instead. This felt like received a belated Christmas gift even though it's halfway past January already.

Fortunately, the PPO stepped up to the plate and kept up with Nehring. Gone are the tiny slips that occasionally plague the orchestra and ultimately distract from the overall performance. There were no indications that the PPO came from the long holiday break.

The PPO were on top form probably because they were kept on their toes by the Jeffrey Ching piece that opened the concert. Ching's avant-garde works, to put it lightly, have challenged audience and orchestra members alike with their complex musical language that local audiences aren't used to. Surprisingly, the Ching work that opened the concert, Fenghuang Singing, is one of his more accessible works.

Grzegorz Nowak and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

The piece had soprano Andión Fernandez and trumpeter Glober Calambro, positioned among the audience at the orchestra section, engage in a musical conversation while accompanied by atmospheric strings. Both Fernandez and Calambro then moved, always in symmetry, to different parts of the orchestra section, as their conversation continues. A handful of musicians were also positioned at the upper boxes and their interwoven flourishes gave this piece a more spatial, immersive experience.

More interesting was the second part that had a fugue played by muted strings. The muted sound combined with an ever lingering but faint dissonance gave the music an incorporeal quality. This was made more evident with the unexpected beats from the drum set that felt a lot more palpable.

Overall, the visual element provided by the soprano and trumpeter, coupled with the discernible architecture of the fugue, made this Ching work a lot more palatable compared to the ones that have been performed by the PPO for the past couple of seasons.

Fernandez performed an encore, Wuxingming lao huashi an aria from Ching’s soon to be premiered opera The Butterflies which is based on the Chinese legend The Butterfly Lovers. Sung in Chinese, the aria was surprisingly tonal for a Ching work.

All of this made up for a front loaded program with only Franz Liszt's Les Préludes S.97 listed for the second half. While the PPO performed this symphonic poem competently, it eventually felt like an afterthought. But after Nehring's splendid Chopin, as well as a surprisingly accessible Ching, there was no reason to complain.