Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra homecoming concert at MiraNila Heritage House

MiraNila Heritage House & Library continues to establish itself as the newest classical music hub in the Metro with the announcement of Strings of Gold: The Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra's Triumphant Return from Europe performance happening on October 1, 2024, 6:00 PM at the Gallery MiraNila.

Last July, the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO) received the gold prize in addition to the Grand Prix in the 13th Bratislava International Youth Music in Slovakia. It was their first participation in the festival.

Only two companies were awarded the Grand Prix in Bratislava this year, the Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool Pretoria from South Africa for their choir and the MSJO from the Philippines for their orchestra. In the same month, the MSJO journeyed to Mozart’s Vienna and garnered the top prize at the prestigious 2024 Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival, a reprise of their golden win of 2021, besting 140 orchestras from 33 countries.

The concert program will feature music for strings composed by Josef Suk, Antonio Vivaldi, and Antonín Dvořák. Modern popular classics by Andrea and Ennio Morricone, Harold Arlen, Ryan Cayabyab, Conrado del Rosario, BINI, and Benny Castillon, among others will also be performed.

Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO)

The Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO) is the string orchestra training program of the MSO Foundation. The junior orchestra is composed of the most advanced students of the MSO Music Academy and other qualified students ages 9 to 26 years old.

Between 2017 and 2019, the MSJO toured Austria, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Korea, and Myanmar. Several MSJO members are top-prize winners of international competitions and of the Philippines’ National Music Competitions for Young Artists.

To date, several MSJO members are enrolled in leading music schools in the United States and Europe, such as the Juilliard School in New York, Cleveland State University, the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, and the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.

The MSJO is principally supported by Standard Insurance Inc., under its corporate motto In Pursuit of Excellence.

Only a limited number of seats, each priced at P1,500 can be availed through Robeen Manalo at 0927-2776335.

Pre-concert snacks & post-concert dinners are available at Bizu MiraNila with a 5% discount for ticket holders on the day of the concert, contact Jenn or Kim 0927-3015129 to reserve seats.

MSJO at the House of Strauss in Vienna

Guests are requested to kindly wear soft-soled shoes to be mindful to the heritage house's old floors.

MiraNila Heritage House & Library is located at 26 Mariposa Street, Brgy Bagong Lipunan Crame, QC (find us on Facebook: MiraNila Heritage House Events).

Strings of Gold is presented by the Benitez-Tirona MiraNila Foundation in partnership with the Erehwon Center for the Arts and Gallery MiraNila by The Blue Leaf, with support from the Bizu Groupe and The Henry MiraNila.

Pianist Carmencita Sipin-Aspiras, next generations of Filipino Artists, set to perform in concert series

The Henrietta Sydeco Tayengco-Limjoco Foundation for Piano presents Keep the Music Playing: Three Generations of Filipino Artists, a series of concerts headed by internationally acclaimed pianist Carmencita “Chita” Sipin-Aspiras.

The series kicks off with an all Mozart program on February 18, 2023, 7:00 PM at the Ayala Museum with Aspiras joined by clarinetist Andrew Constantino, the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra, and Grammy-nominated conductor Darrell Ang.

The concert will have performances of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550, Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, and Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466.

For the outreach performances Aspiras will be joined by violinist Sara Maria Gonzalez and cellist John Paulo Aronico with dates on February 25, 2023, 7:00 PM at Luce Auditorium, Silliman University, Dumaguete City, with the next stop on March 1, 2023, 7:00 PM at Manila Pianos, Makati before wrapping up on March 3, 2023, 6:00 PM at University of the Philippines, Visayas at Iloilo City.

The program for the outreach performances includes Joseph Haydn's Piano Trio No. 39 in G major, Hob. XV/25 'Gypsy', Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8, and Astor Piazzolla's Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas/The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.

Pianist Carmencita Sipin-Aspiras

Aspiras is a former child prodigy and since has earned global respect in the musical community through her prolific artistry, great sensitivity, and excellence. Before becoming a remarkable pedagogue in piano and music in the Philippines, she was then the first recitalist for the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Filipino Artists’ Series and the choice to give the Philippine premiere of the late British Composer Sir Michael Tippett’s Piano Concerto with the composer conducting.

Born in Manila, she started playing at an early age taught by her mother, who was also an amateur pianist. Aspiras was the youngest student of Juan Banez at the UP Conservatory of Music and later studied with National Artists Lucrezia R. Kasilag. After graduation, she was hailed as one of the brightest young talents and was awarded by the Music Promotion Foundation to study at the Vienna Academy of Music (now Vienna Music University) in Austria. She studied with Bruno Seidlhofer, the mentor of the great pianists Martha Argerich, Rudolf Buchbinder, Nelson Freie, Daniel Baremboim, Mitsuko Uchida, Greta Hinterhofer, and Richard Hauser.

One of her performances in Vienna elicited this review by the leading daily KURIER: “Her intense playing displayed refinement of taste, versatility and an exceptional sense of style. Strong applause at Musikverein’s Brahms Hall.”

Ultimately, Carmencita did not just perform widely in Europe, she also recorded for radio networks namely Radio Vienna, Radio Graz, Sueddeutsche Rundfunk and RIAS Berlin. Her performances with violin virtuoso Carmencita Lozada were widely acclaimed for their laudable collaboration.

For tickets, contact either HSTLF at 0920-9540053, 0918-3473027, or josephuy2004@yahoo.com or Childhope Philippines via 0917-1005303.

Keep the Music Playing: Three Generations of Filipino Artists series of concerts are presented by Henrietta Sydeco Tayengco-Limjoco Foundation for Piano, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Holiday Inn Suite Makati, Ayala Museum, DZFE-FM 98.7 and Manila Pianos. Proceeds from the concerts will benefit Childhope Philippines and HSTLFoundation Young Artists Program.

Vivaldi's The Four Seasons at the Ayala Museum

The Manila Symphony Orchestra and the Ayala Museum present Vivaldi's Four Seasons as their latest Rush Hour Concerts offering happening this March 14, 2019, 6:30 PM at the Ayala Musem.

Italian violinist and conductor Alessio Benvenuti join the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra in performing pieces by Antonio Vivaldi including the perennial favorite Le quattro stagioni/The Four Seasons.

Benvenuti had studied with some of the icons of violin in the last century such as Henryk Szeryng, Ruggierro Ricio, Igor Oistrach and Dorothy DeLay.

An awardee of the prestigious Prix De Rome in 2003, Maestro Benvenuti had his training from prestigious artistic institutions such as the Mozarteum in Salzbug, The Juilliard School in New York and the Royal College of Music in London. As a violin soloist he had performed with various orchestras and worked with top conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado and Yuri Temirkanov.

Maestro Benvenuti now resides with his family in the beautiful island of Siquijor in the Visayas. He currently has teaching and performance projects in Cebu City and is excited to collaborate with the MSJO and be introduced into Manila’s classical concert scene.

Aside from The Four Seasons, also in the program are a couple of other Vivaldi works namely the Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, Op. 3 No. 11, RV 565 and the Concerto in F major for Four Violins, Op. 3 No. 7, RV 567, L'esbro armonico with Benvenuti and a some members of the MSJO playing the various solo parts.

Diomedes Saraza Jr. recital to open MSO 2019 Rush Hour Concert season

The spotlight will be on violinist Diomedes Saraza Jr. as the Manila Symphony Orchestra opens its 2019 Rush Hour Concerts season with Concertmaster in Focus on February 21, 2019, 6:30 PM at the Ayala Museum.

This recital with Pianist Mariel Ilusorio and the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra conducted by Jeffrey Solares will feature the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, Georges Bizet/Franz Waxman, Fritz Kreisler, and other showpieces.

Diomedes Saraza Jr. recently made his debut as the concertmaster of the Manila Symphony Orchestra at their 2018-2019 season finale concert held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines last January 30, 2019. 

Marlon Chen, invigorated MSO deliver solid season ender; Victor Asuncion dazzles

Conductor Marlon Chen and the Manila Symphony Orchestra

Brimming with youthful energy, the Manila Symphony Orchestra put on an inspired performance in their season ending Titan of a concert at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Diomedes Saraza Jr.and Marlon Chen
(disappointed that I failed to take one of
Victor Asuncion)

The promise of the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra members, the debut of new concertmaster Diomedes Saraza, Jr., the breezy and playful Ravel by pianist Victor Asuncion, and the solid weaving of Mahler’s Titan by guest conductor Marlon Chen all contributed to the euphoric feeling of ending a season on a high.

Victor Asuncion was in his element with Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, cruising and oozing in the jazzy twists and turns. He dazzled with the rarely heard Rippling Water by Jose Rodis for his encore. I could’ve been easily overwhelmed having to sit through yet another piano concerto, my 6^th in less than two weeks, but Asuncion’s breezy Ravel was very pleasing and a great way to cap my January that I’ve referred to as a piano concerto overload.

Marlon Chen deftly handled the main offering for that evening, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major ‘Titan’. He was able to form shapes and arcs within the movements and also with the entire symphony making the work very palatable despite its considerable length. Despite the symphony clocking at almost an hour, the actual performance didn’t feel that long. I just wished that the horns had more conviction especially during the finale. But overall, it was a very solid performance by the MSO.

Commendable also was how members of the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra carried themselves as they fortified the ranks of the MSO in this concert. In previous performances, the young ones joining the orchestra had a nervous air surrounding them as if they were thrust prematurely into the battle field. But now, armed with competition experience, numerous performances back in 2018, and of course, new concertmaster Diomedes Saraza, Jr., these young musicians exuded confidence and held their own alongside the MSO.

2019 has brought change to the Manila Symphony Orchestra, but with a confident outing to start the year, they head towards their next season with a sense of renewed vigor and interest.

Manila Symphony Orchestra launches diverse Year of the Titans 2018-2019 concert season

Manila Symphony Orchestra conducted by Prof. Arturo Molina

The Manila Symphony Orchestra, one of Asia’s oldest orchestras, launched its 2018-2019 concert season, billed as Year of the Titans, featuring its most diverse lineup to date, both in terms of music programming and guest artists.

MSO’s “titanic” concert season opens with The Color of Music happening on June 3, 2018, 6:00 PM at the Theatre at Solaire. With the orchestra’s music director and principal conductor Prof. Arturo Molina at the helm, this concert will feature Richard Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191 with German cellist Clauss Kangiesser as the soloist.

On July 29, 2018, 6:00 PM at the Theatre at Solaire, guitarist Noli Aurillo and Filipino band Silent Sanctuary join the MSO led by Prof. Molina in Rockestra 2018, a rock symphony concert. Two members of Silent Sanctuary, violinist Kim Ng and cellist Anjo Inacay were former members of the MSO.

The MSO and Prof. Arturo Molina along with surprise guest artists bring film music to the concert stage with Silver Screen Symphonies on September 16, 2018, 6:00 PM at the Theatre at Solaire.

Then it’s off to the Meralco Theater on November 30, 2018 with Beethoven Redux featuring German based Indonesian violinist Iskandar Widjaja and Singaporean conductor Darrell Ang. This concert offers a double dose of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61, first in its original form and then followed by the redux version featuring a new solo violin part composed by Jeffrey Ching.

The season wraps up with The Titan on January 26, 2019, 8:00 PM with Prof. Arturo Molina leading the MSO with a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major ‘Titan’ and Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major with pianist Victor Asuncion as the featured soloist. The venue for this concert will be announced later.

Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra

The season launched also presented the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra, the youth orchestra arm of the MSO formed back in 2014. Last year, the MSJO won 2^nd Prize at the 11^th Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival held at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. This July, the young members of the orchestra return to Vienna and hope to do better at the same competition before embarking on yet another European tour.

MSO Music Academy students

Aside from performing, members of the MSO also teach at the MSO Music Academy (also established in 2014) that now has three branches: Circuit Makati, Glorietta 5, and in Taft Avenue. Young kids and even adults can enroll there and enrich their lives with music.

Apart from the concert season, the MSO also perform regularly at the Ayala Museum via the Rush Hour Concert series. These concerts were designed as a way for people in the Makati area to spend an hour or so watching an orchestra performance comfortably at the museum rather than being stuck on the road in rush hour traffic.

Right after the season launch, I was able to do just that with East-West, a Rush Hour Concert in celebration of the 100^th Birth Anniversary of Dr. Lucrecia Kasilag, National Artist for Music. This concert featured concertmaster Gina Medina-Perez and pianist Ingrid Sala-Santamaria performing music by Kasilag alongside that of Johannes Brahms.

Kasilag’s music hasn’t been performed as often as Brahms in here and maybe that’s why Gina Medina-Perez’s rendition of the outer movements of Kasilag’s Violin Concerto, LK 241 sounded exotic to me. This was truly an odd realization considering how the opening piece, Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5 WoO1 was very likely exotic music from a German’s perspective. I guess that Kasilag’s use of fourth intervals instead of the usual third with the chords lent more to the exotic feel of this piece. I also remembered that it’s been almost a decade since Gina Medina-Perez performed this concerto at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. This only shows how rarely indeed are Kasilag’s works heard on stage.

Pianist Ingrid Sala Santamaria

Despite the inclusion of traditional Philippine percussion instruments, the first movement of Kasilag’s Divertissement for Piano and Orchestra sounded less exotic to me. Legendary pianist Ingrid Sala Santamaria’s piano parts were mostly single voiced played in octaves and it had an effect on me as if the piano was among the traditional percussion instruments.

Continuing the juxtaposition of pieces by the unlikely paired composers, Santamaria continued with the latter half of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83. I was able to savor the solo cello in the third movement but I wish that I was able to see her perform this in its entirety last October.

Remarkable to note that she is the only local pianist I could think of right now who has done a significant number of high profile concerts over the past several months. This only made me wonder which pianists from the millennial generation could follow in her footsteps and have a long career.

The final Kasilag piece for the night was the extremely accessible Philippine Scenes. This three movement piece (Mountainside, Lullabye, Festival) was very much Filipino in spirit that I had a major turnaround with Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 6, WoO1 that closed out the concert was now the one that felt foreign and exotic to me.

The agony of travelling out of Makati has prevented me from catching most of the MSO’s past Rush Hour Concerts (or any other concert at the Ayala Museum) but I was extremely glad to catch this one since it gave me a generous dose of Kasilag’s music. Recordings of her music are rare and not that easy to purchase and live performances of it are even rarer. This only made me anticipate upcoming tributes to her in celebration of her birth centennial anniversary.

And it goes without saying that I also eagerly await seeing the Manila Symphony Orchestra on stage once again after missing their previous season entirely. See you at the concerts!