Asia Region Suzuki Conference presents concert series at BGC Arts Center

Hundreds of young Suzuki method practitioners, parents and teachers converge here in Manila as the Philippine Suzuki Association hosts the 7th Asia Region Suzuki Conference with the theme Art to Heart this July 1-5, 2018 at the Treston International College, Bonifacio Global City.

For almost a week, young children playing the violin, piano, cello, and guitar under the Suzuki method from the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand get to take part in group, orchestra, enrichment classes and masterclasses under international teachers, perform together in mini recitals, and watch the performances at the series of concerts lined up during the conference.

Good thing that these concerts, happening on July 2-4, 2018 at Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, Bonifacio Global City, are not just for the conference participants but also for the general public as well. And at a very affordable price to boot. For three straight nights, music lovers can enjoy music from chamber groups, young and upcoming artists, and a handful of established concert artists who owe much of their success to the Suzuki method.

On July 2, chamber groups such as Expression Music Ensemble from Brunei Darussalam, GMS Piano Ensemble, Panagsagan Duo, Paraluman, STAR Suzuki Strings, and TTEA Violin Group from Taiwan open the series of performances at the Ensemble Concert.

On July 3, promising young musicians namely Hansel Ang, Paulina Araña, Heidi Cahyadi, Gregory Cheong, Yu-Chia Chiu, Gabriel Domagas, Adrian Ong, Micah Pecson, Jannina Peña, EJ Villarin, and Shi-Xuan Yang take to the stage at the Young Artists Concert. The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Herminigildo Ranera will accompany the young artists at the concert.

On July 4, established concert artists namely violinist Regina Buenaventura, guitarist Ramoncito Carpio, cellist Victor Coo, and pianist Oliver Salonga headline the Artists Concert wrapping up the series.

The concerts start at 7:00 PM and tickets to each concert are priced at P500. For inquiries, call (0966) 468-7894.

MSO V: Beethoven Lives!

Alexander Vikulov and the Manila Symphony Orchestra

Featuring:

Arturo Molina, violin

Greg Zuniega, piano

Victor Coo, cello 

Manila Symphony Orchestra

Alexander Vikulov, conductor 

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven

     Overture from Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43

     Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 56

     Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

The Manila Symphony Orchestra recently held their closing concert of their Gala Season celebrating the orchestra’s historic 85^th year at the Philam Life Auditorium featuring guest conductor Alexander Vikulov and soloists Arturo Molino (violin), Greg Zuniega (piano) and Victor Coo (cello). The concert entitled Beethoven Lives! featured the music of Ludwig van Beethoven (obviously) that very much delighted the inner Schroeder in me.

But I am not as obsessive as Schroeder when it comes to Beethoven since I had no idea how the Overture to Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43, the first piece of the evening, actually sounds. And it didn’t help at all that while the orchestra was playing this piece, I paid more attention in checking out how they sounded under the baton of guest conductor Alexander Vikulov. I am prone to doing this especially if the opening piece is not familiar to me. I also checked out if those who didn’t play during the last concert were back this time around. And before I knew it, the piece was already over.

Arturo Molina, Victor Coo and Greg Zuniega perform the Triple Concerto

Then it was time for the Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 56 which was probably the main highlight of the concert for many in the audience that night. This piece also known as the Triple Concerto is an unusual one since instead of just one soloist, there are actually three. And what was more unusual during this performance was that the three soloists do not actually perform together regularly. I usually see Arturo Molina conducting the MSO and I couldn’t even recall if I ever got to see him during his days as the concertmaster of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. On the other hand, I’ve seen Victor Coo perform with violinist Joseph Esmilla and pianist Rudolf Golez (Trio con Brio). And it was during recitals that I’ve seen the very reliable Greg Zuniega. And despite this lack of playing together, they showed excellent rapport especially during the first movement which featured a lively conversation between the three with each instrument taking on the themes. I was also able to appreciate the attention to detail that Beethoven did especially with the cello that had the tendency to be drowned by the piano and the violin. In all three movements, the cello delivered the first solo hence giving it the chance to shine before the piano and violin eventually dominate. After this piece, the trio of Molina, Coo and Zuniega delivered a charming encore of Pamulinawen arranged by Ryan Cayabyab.

As much as I appreciated the Triple Concerto, it was actually the last piece, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 that I was really looking forward to that evening. This piece has become very popular in recent years because of the manga/anime/drama series Nodame Cantabile. With the exception of the second movement, this piece exudes such joy all the way through. I normally don’t like happy and cheerful pieces but this is a major exception. The fourth movement is one of the pieces I normally listen to whenever I’m feeling down in the dumps and experiencing a live performance easily trumps listening to a recording anytime. And when the MSO played this fourth movement, the joy and the sense of triumph coming out from the orchestra was almost tangible. I don’t know if it’s the November rain but this concert just continued the streak of outstanding orchestra performances that started with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra.

Special thanks should be given also to Lisa Macuja-Elizalde for bringing over the exceptional conductor Alexander Vikulov. He had a rather understated style that didn’t call much attention to himself. But what’s more important was that he was able to bring out the best in MSO who delivered a very inspired performance. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend his masterclass over at the University of the Philippines that happened a few days later due to a conflict in schedule.

Since their season has already ended I couldn’t help but look back at the season as a whole. The MSO had a hit lineup for me since they included some of my favorites like the Mahler Symphony No. 5, Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, Brahms Symphony No. 4, and Beethoven Symphony No. 7. And also, they performed the Khachaturian Violin Concerto which I’ve wanted to hear for some time now. For this concert season, I’ve noticed that everything went ahead as planned without any of the mishaps (Ondoy back in 2009) or sudden program change (July 2010) that they’ve experienced in previous seasons. I do hope that the next season will continue the upward momentum of the Manila Symphony Orchestra.

All Beethoven program closes Manila Symphony Orchestra’s concert season

November 10, 2011, 8:00 PM Hearing Beethoven!

November 12, 2011, 8:00 PM Beethoven Lives!

Philam Life Auditorium

UN Avenue, Manila

Featuring:

Arturo Molina, violin

Greg Zuniega, piano

Victor Coo, cello 

Manila Symphony Orchestra

Alexander Vikulov, conductor 

Programme:

Ludwig van Beethoven

     Overture from Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43

     Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 56

     Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

The Manila Symphony Orchestra closes its season celebrating 85 years with a two night concert featuring the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. Music director and principal conductor will be the featured violinist playing alongside pianist Greg Zuniega and cellist Victor Coo in performing the Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 56. Russian Alexander Vikulov will be the guest conductor for the concerts that also feature the Overture to the Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43 and Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92.

I will be watching the concert entitled Beethoven Lives! happening on November 12, 2011 8:00 PM at the Philam Life Auditorium. The performance happening on November 10, 2011 8:00 PM at the same venue is a special fundraising concert entitled Hearing Beethoven! for the benefit of indigent patients of the Philippine General Hospital, in time for the Christmas season. It is in collaboration with the Philippine General Hospital Department of Otorhinolaryngology (also known as Ear-Nose-Throat), celebrating its 50th anniversary this year as an independent division of the PGH. Dr. Jose Lapeña, president of the Philippine Society of Audiology, will also discuss Beethoven's hearing condition in a short pre-concert talk since it’s known that the great composer lost his hearing during his latter years.

Conductor Alexander Vikulov

I’m really looking forward to this concert because of the Symphony No. 7 which was made popular by the series Nodame Cantabile. And I think that this piece has one of the most joyous fourth movements ever which is fitting since this concert is poised to become a celebration of the MSO’s successful concert season. Also, being able to see a performance of the Triple Concerto featuring the three soloists is just an added treat that I don’t mind at all my lack of familiarity with the Prometheus Overture.

Manila Symphony Orchestra’s gala concert season 2011 has been made possible by Mercedes Benz, the Pancake House Group, and other generous sponsors, benefactors, and friends of the orchestra. Alexander Vikulov appears through the courtesy of Lisa Macuja-Elizalde.

Ticket prices:

November 10, 2011 Hearing Beethoven!

     P2000 Orchestra Center

     P1500 Orchestra Side

     P800 Loge Center

     P600 Loge Side

November 12, 2011 Beethoven Lives!

     P1000 Orchestra Center

     P800 Orchestra Side

     P500 Loge 

     50% student discount

     20% senior citizen discount

Tickets are also available at Arts in Taguig City, Bonifacio Highstreet and Red Jasper at the ground floor of the Power Plant Mall, Rockwell.

For inquiries:

MSO Secretariat 736-2717, (0917) 366-2651

The BMW Cultural Concert Series Trio Con Brio

Trio con Brio

Featuring:

Joseph Esmilla, violin

Rudolf Golez, piano

Victor Coo, cello

Programme:

Paul Schoenfield Café Music

Felix Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 (1^st movement)

Astor Piazzolla

     Concierto Para Trio*

     Soledad*

     La Muerte del Angel

*arranged by Albert Tiu

I very much regret not seeing Trio Con Brio when they had their critically acclaimed concert last year. This trio, composed of violinist Joseph Esmilla, pianist Rudolf Golez and cellist Victor Coo, is probably the most celebrated trio in the country today. Each member of this trio is a capable soloist and a heavyweight in the classical music scene in here. Although Victor Coo is based abroad, he frequently visits the country and does a number of performances whenever he is here. I still couldn’t find an explanation as to why I still haven’t seen Victor perform yet. No wonder that I scrambled to find where the BMW Prestige Motors Showroom was when I got an invite from Martin Lopez, Executive Director of the FilFest Foundation to see this trio perform there. I didn’t want to repeat the mistake that I did when I missed their concert last year.

I asked Rudolf about their prepared programme a few days before the music soiree and he seemed enthusiastic about the Paul Schoenfield piece entitled Café Music. He told me that it’s a contemporary piece with jazz elements. Knowing how diverse jazz music is, I had no idea what to expect with this one. Imagine my surprise when I heard ragtime, Charleston and early 20^th century jazz music in the piece since I’ve been listening to this type of music a lot in recent weeks. This piece was introduced to the trio by Coo and it was indeed a pleasant sounding one compared to the atonal and dissonant works coming from most contemporary composers. The Charleston part in the Allegro first movement almost tempted me to stand up and dance but I had to behave knowing that there were many distinguished guests during this invitation only event. The Andante Moderato second movement on the other hand was so exquisite that it made me wish that cognac was also served during this event. Alas, champagne was the only alcohol served that night.

The next piece that the trio performed was the first movement of Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49. This was originally the last piece in the programme but I actually preferred it to be the second since it would’ve been quite anticlimactic if they stuck to the original order. It’s a piece from the Romantic era and although I am really drawn to that period, the previous Schoenfield piece made such an impression on me that I wanted to relive that moment again. No offense to Mendelssohn and lovers of his music but that’s how I felt during this time.

The trio ended their programme with three pieces by Astor Piazzolla. The first two pieces, Concierto para Trio and Soledad, arranged for a trio by pianist Albert Tiu sounded like music from Piazzolla’s operetta Maria de Buenos Aires. These two along with the third Piazzolla piece La Muerte del Angel were positively received by the audience during the trio’s previous concert last year and these have since become their signature pieces. For their encore, the trio played Tubig at Langis by George Canseco arranged by National Artist Lucio San Pedro. But the audience wanted more so they performed another Piazzolla piece called Oblivion. I was seated near the back and didn’t have the best view but I didn’t mind at all since just being there was more than enough for me.

I’ve never been to a BMW Cultural Concert Series before since the previous performance venues were inaccessible to me. Finally, the location for this concert wasn’t as far south and I was able to witness this intimate performance. I was also very pleased to see Mr. Yaniv Revach, the Deputy Chief of Mission and he was able to introduce me to the new Israeli Ambassador Menashe Bar-On along and his wife Madame Eti. Also present during the concert was phenomenal violinist Diomedes Saraza Jr. and I told him that I was also eagerly anticipating his upcoming concert.

RAd, Israeli Ambassador Menashe Bar-On with wife Madame Eti,
Rudolf Golez, Joseph Esmilla and Yaniv Revach