Soprano Mheco Manlangit, tenor Radnel Ofalsa, conductor Herminigildo Ranera at PPO season finale

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra's Metamorphosis finally nears its completion with its season finale happening on April 28, 2023, 8:00 PM at the Metropolitan Theater.

Conducting the season ending concert is the PPO's Resident and Associate Conductor Herminigildo Ranera whose composition, Lola Basyang Miniature Suite, makes its world premiere on this night.

Two of the country's most promising singers, soprano Mheco Joy Manlangit and tenor Radnel Del Rio Ofalsa, will be the concert's featured soloists performing various arias including L'espoir renaît dans mon âme from Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice, Prendi, per me sei libero from Gaetano Donizetti’s L'elisir d’amore, Si, ritrovarla io giuro from Gioacchino Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Je dis que rien ne m’epouvante from Georges Bizet’s Carmen, and Quoi! vous m'aimez? from Donizetti’s La fille du regiment.

Other music to be performed at the concert includes Dmitri Shostakovich's Festive Overture, Op. 96 and Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178, From the New World.

This concert caps the PPO's 38th performance season dubbed Metamorphosis that saw five conductors take to the podium in their quest to become the PPO's next Principal Conductor and Music Director.

An American musical retrospective concert this Father's Day at the Ayala Museum

Celebrate Father’s Day with the music from well-loved American musicals at The American Songbook: A Retrospective on June 17, 2018, 6:00 PM at the Ayala Museum.

After the show's premiere at the Insular Life Auditorium for FilFest followed by a series of outreach concerts in Baguio, the production presented by Cultural Arts Events Organizers in partnership with the Ayala Museum goes to Makati in time for Father's Day.

Tenor Jan Briane Astom, sopranos Mheco Manlangit and Jasmin Salvo, with pianist Gabriel Allan Paguirigan, will perform songs by the pillars of American music such as George Gershwin, Jerome Kerns, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers as well as those of their successors namely Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Schwartz, Stephen Larson and Stephen Sondheim.

Tickets priced at P800 and P500 are available at TicketWorld outlets and CAEO through these numbers: (0918) 347-3027, (0920) 954-0053 or 782-7164 and 997-9483. Aside from the usual 50% student and 20% senior citizen discounts, there will be a 20% discount to all the fathers that can be availed for tickets purchased at the lobby prior to the show.

The American Songbook: A Retrospective is a production of Cultural Arts Events Organizers and the Ayala Museum with the support of Lyric Piano, and 98.7 DZFE-FM The Master's Touch.

Tenor Arthur Espiritu leads A Night of Love concert at the Ayala Museum

International tenor Arthur Espiritu leads A Night of Love, a pre-Valentine concert featuring some of opera’s most romantic music happening this February 10, 2018, 7:00 PM at the Ayala Museum in Makati.

Joining Arthur at this concert are Stefanie Quintin and Mheco Manlangit, two of the country’s young promising sopranos, and collaborating artist extraordinaire, pianist Najib Ismail.

The three will take the audience to an evening filled with love songs and duets from Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula and Norma, Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, and Georges Bizet’s Carmen.

Arthur Espiritu had a productive 2017 making his Australian Opera debut as Rodolfo in La Bohème. He also played the role of the Shepherd in Karol Szymanowski’s King Roger. He then performed in Munich before ending the year with a stint reprising Rodolfo in Israel.

Stefanie Quintin has sung the main roles in Domenico Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio segreto, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Coronation Mass, and Requiem, Donizetti’s L'Elisir d'Amore, Bellini’s La Sonnambula, George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, Ryan Cayabyab’s Misa, Geonyong Lee’s Asian Mass, among others. She was invited to perform in various international festivals and is a recipient of the Delphic Lyra Award for Traditional Music.

Mheco Manlangit has her major breakthrough as the sole winner of the Singapore International Festival of Music Competition held July last year.  She then made her professional debut at CAEO’s Youth on Stage concert series at the Ayala Museum. She graduated from the University of Sto. Tomas Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Eugene de los Santos.

Najib ismail is one of the most sought after chamber music and collaborating pianist having performed with global opera superstars like soprano Sumi Jo and Nelly Miricioiu.

A Night of Love is presented by Cultural Arts Events Organizer, the Ayala Museum, Lyric, and 98.7 DZFE The Master’s Touch.

Future of Philippine opera shines in concert

Featuring:

Roxy Aldiosa, soprano

Jan Briane Astom, tenor

Carlo Bunyi, baritone

Michaela Fajardo, soprano

Mheco Manlangit, soprano

Carlo Mañalac, tenor

Myramae Meneses, soprano

Anna Migallos, soprano

Nomher Nival, tenor

Stefanie Quintin, soprano

Mia Ariana Tanciongco, soprano

Marielle Tuason, soprano

Iona Ventocilla, soprano

Najib Ismail, piano

Gabriel Allan Paguirian, piano

Full length opera productions in the Philippines are a rarity which is a shame since there’s an abundance of talent in here. And a small number of these talents, thirteen to be exact, showed off their operatic vocal chops at a concert entitled A Night at the Opera, their culminating recital held at the Ayala Museum after going through an intensive three day workshop under famed Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu.

The performers, namely Roxy Aldiosa, Jan Briane Astom, Carlo Bunyi, Michaela Fajardo, Mheco Manlangit, Carlo Mañalac, Myramae Meneses, Anna Migallos, Nomher Nival, Stefanie Quintin, Mia Ariana Tanciongco, Marielle Tuason, and Iona Ventocilla each had their moment to shine as they sang works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gaetano Donizetti, Gioachino Rossini, Giacomo Puccini, Giacomo Meyerbeer, and Roger Quilter. They were accompanied by pianists Najib Ismail and Gabriel Allan Paguirigan.

When Myramae along with Iona kicked things off with Prenderò quel brunettino from Mozart’s Così fan tutte, I had a realization that unsettled me for a bit. Myramae, who just a few years ago was a promising newcomer to the scene, now appeared as the seasoned veteran, along with Nomher Nival, in this concert. These two later on sang arias from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with Myramae doing Prendi, per me sei libero while Nomher delivering Una furtiva lagrima. Iona, on the other hand, gave me my first taste of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata.

The evening served as an introduction for me to unfamiliar faces like Mia Ariana Tanciongco who sang Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Carlo Bunyi who did Madamina, il catalogo è questo from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Marielle Tuason (Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben from Mozart’s Zaide), Mheco Manlangit (Chi il bel sogno di Doretta from Puccini’s La Rondine), and Anna Migallos (Donde lieta usci from Puccini’s La Boheme).

It was also the first time for me to see familiar faces like Michaela Fajardo (Voi che sapete from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro), Carlo Mañalac (Quanto è bella, quanto è cara from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore), Roxy Aldiosa (Una voce poco fa from Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia) perform as soloists. I’ve seen them a handful of times perform as members of Viva Voce so it’s nice to hear their solo voices at last.

Another very familiar face is Jan Briane Astom (Come Away Death from Quilter’s 3 Shakespeare Songs, Op. 6) and seeing him sing was a departure from what I know of him as a pianist. This wouldn’t be the first time for someone to change tracks since Myramae actually had her start as a violinist before switching to operatic singing.

The one who stole the show was Stefanie Quintin who dazzled with great dynamics, humor and charm despite most of us in the audience not having any idea what the French words of Ombre légère from Meyerbeer’s Dinorah mean. Later did I find out that the aria is actually a duet for one with Dorinah singing alongside with her shadow.

Aside from the solos, there were also duets between Mheco and Marielle (Sull'aria...che soave zeffiretto from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro) and Nomher and Anna (O soave fanciulla from Puccini’s La bohème) that eventually capped the concert. For an encore, all the performers sang Ikaw ang Mahal Ko by Tito Arevalo and Levi Celerio, a surprising choice but eventually a breath of fresh air since it was not yet another Libiamo ne' lieti calici which has already been done to death.

Throughout the concert, I was greatly amused seeing Arthur Espiritu get all excited and nervous as he watched at the sidelines. At the start, he gave opening remarks and told the audience how these young singers need the support especially when they pursue further studies to improve their craft. He clearly wanted these young singers to have the opportunities he has had to study and perform in opera productions here and abroad. Of course, the audience didn’t let the evening end without Arthur singing and he caved in to demands and did Giuseppe Verdi’s La donna è mobile from Rigoletto.

It’s been only few years since I got first exposed to full length operas and this night only told me that there are still new faces and voices to discover and more operas to explore out there. A Night at the Opera was presented by Cultural Arts Events Organizers and MusicArtes Inc.