After a couple of years of online and outreach performances, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra finally announced the return of their concert season, entitled Metamorphosis, to be held this September 2022-April 2023 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo and also at the Manila Metropolitan Theater.
The PPO's 38th Concert season will also feature five of the shortlisted conductors who are up in the running to be the orchestra's next Principal Conductor/Music Director.
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| David Gómez-Ramírez |
Opening the season on September 16 is Spanish conductor David Gómez-Ramírez. Last seen with the PPO as guest conductor back in 2018, he has worked with many professional orchestras around the world. He has been chief conductor of the Sagunto Symphony Orchestra, and guest conductor in important orchestras as València, Seville, Madrid, Oviedo and outside of Spain, in France, Portugal, United Kingdom, Mexico, Russia, Romania, Italy, and Vietnam.
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| Grzegorz Nowak |
On October 7, the PPO welcomes Grzegorz Nowak, for the second concert of the season. Nowak, the permanent Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, UK, was also the Music Director of the Polish National Opera, Warsaw, Poland from 2017-2020 and other orchestras in Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and the USA. He has conducted orchestral music recorded in over 80 CDs that have received awards and 5-star ratings.
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| Noam Zur |
Noam Zur leads the orchestra as they perform at the Manila Metropolitan Theater stage on November 11. Since 2017, he was the principal conductor and artistic director of the State Symphony Orchestra of Salta, Argentina. He has over 20 years of professional and conducting experience during which he developed an expansive repertoire in opera, ballet and symphony. He is also a composer and arranger, having recorded his own works in Funkhausorchester des WDR Köln in August 2016 which he conducted as well.
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| Mark Anthony Carpio |
Philippine Madrigal Singers choirmaster Mark Anthony Carpio conducts the PPO on December 16, which will be the last to be held at the CCP before the major rehabilitation of the main building starting in January 2023. Personally handpicked by National Artist for Music Andrea O. Veneracion to succeed her as choirmaster of the Madz, Carpio is one of the most respected figures in choral music and a sought after choral clinician who has given extensive and in-depth workshops all nationally and internationally.
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| Shizuo Kuwahara |
Japanese-American Maestro Shizuo Kuwahara conducts the PPO January 27, 2023. Kuwahara is the First Prize winner of the prestigious Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition in Frankfurt, Germany and Principal Guest Conductor of The Mariinsky Theatre, Russia. Kuwahara has led performances throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. He was also an Assistant and Cover Conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony and Orchestra de Paris.
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| Haoran Li |
On February 24, 2023, the PPO will be under the baton of Haoran Li. He was Assistant Conductor of China Philharmonic Orchestra from 2019-2020 and the National Center for the Performing Arts Beijing, China in 2018.
The conductors and programs for the March 17 and April 28, 2023 concerts have yet to be announced.
The September, October, and December concerts will be held at the CCP while the November and performances in 2023 will be at the Manila Metropolitan Theater.
Pianist Clement Acevedo joins PPO 38th concert season opener
Pianist Clement Acevedo joins conductor David Gómez-Ramírez at the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra's 38th Concert Season opener this September 16, 2022 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater).
Program for the evening includes Redentor Romero's Philippine Portraits, Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102 with Acevedo as the featured pianist, and Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88.
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| Clement Acevedo |
Clement Acevedo is an award winning pianist who has performed in prestigious competitions such as the Heida Hermanns International Piano Competition in Westport, Connecticut, and the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), where he entered semifinalists in both 2004 and 2009. He won the Amati Award at the 2003 Amati Music Festival in Catskills, New York. Also, he has won in concerto contests hosted by the Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation (MCO), James Madison University (JMU), and the UP College of Music, as well as the Rachmaninoff Piano Competition.
He performed with the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Herminigildo Ranera, the James Madison University Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert McCashin, and the Metro Manila Concert Orchestra under the baton of composer/conductor Josefino Chino Toledo at the Merkin Hall in New York City, the Taichung National Theater in Taiwan, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
He has recently accepted the position of Assistant Professor at the UP College of Music and Dance, to teach beginning the Academic Year 2022-23.
