DIOMEDES SARAZA, JR. INTERPRETS KASILAG’S VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1

AFTER TCHAIKOVSKY AND SIBELIUS, DIOMEDES SARAZA, JR. INTERPRETS KASILAG’S VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1

by Pablo A. Tariman

Diomedes Saraza, Jr. interprets Lucrecia Kasilag’s Violin Concerto No. 1 along with Camille Saint-Saëns Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso in the 39th PPO season finale April 19, 2024, 7:30 p.m. at the Samsung Theater for Performing Arts in Makati City.

Diomedes Saraza, Jr. with Maestro Grzegorz Nowak after first rehearsal.

The concert will be highlighted by Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, D.485, B-flat Major under the baton of Maestro Grzegorz Nowak.

After first rehearsal with Maestro Novak, Saraza exclaimed: “What a fantastic conductor, I feel so free performing with this maestro! Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra is so blessed to have a conductor of Maestro Grzegorz Nowak’s calibre!”

(Cecile Licad herself has the same impression of the new PPO music director Nowak and the orchestra during the last March 19 concert at the Met. “We were so super synchronized at the concert. It was a wonderful collaboration with the new music director of the PPO. I loved maestro Nowak’s rehearsal process. It made the performance much more fun and enjoyable. The PPO that night was in top form,” she said)

The last time with PPO, he reprised the Sibelius violin concerto under the baton of Chinese conductor Haoran Li.

The Sibelius warhorse was the same concerto he played during his Carnegie Hall debut with the PPO in 2016 sharing the stage with pianist Cecile Licad.

Twice he played it under two PPO conductors: the French-American Oliver Ochanine and the Japanese Yoshikazu Fukumura.

He triumphed in both engagements, making fresh understatements which showed his rare kind of musicality.

Saraza with Cecile Licad in one private chamber music happening.

His Carnegie Hall debut gave him a lot of beautiful memories.

It was one of few memorable times when his older brother and parents were in the audience in the biggest moment of his career. “I remember the energy of the audience, the magical acoustics of the hall and the pride of standing on stage with our national orchestra. It really felt like a big Filipino family reunion with many Filipinos in the audience.”

One’s first early encounters with Saraza was as a very young recitalist in the opening of the Pasig Museum Summer Music Festival series in 2002. He dazzled with Saint Saens’ Introduction et Rondo Cappicioso and a magical rendition of Abelardo’s Cavatina.

Sooner than he expected, he was a prizewinner of the Juilliard Schools’ William Schuman Competition.

He summed up his Juilliard years thus: “Studying in that school taught me how to be self-sufficient and never to be complacent. You always have to work hard on mastering your craft.”

In Manila, his homecoming concerts were always reasons for celebrations.

His Paganini D Major Concerto with the Manila Symphony at the Philamlife Auditorium was electrifying.

His key to a good performance: “Focus consistently during the concert no matter what happens. All the things that you have practiced must stay in the performance. The most difficult part of playing this concerto are the notes themselves. They require a huge amount of energy and violin technique. The thing that makes it more difficult is putting the right character on the notes. My teacher used to say that this piece should sound easy and playful even though the notes are hard. You can’t just focus on hitting the notes right because they require from the soloist the right mood and character — not to mention various shapes and color.”

His Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky concertos with the PPO were equally gratifying.

One recalled his Mendelssohn moments some years back with conductor Fukumura.

The impact was such the audience found itself cheering as one and later moved to give a standing ovation.

How could one forget his Bartok Violin concerto No. 3 also with MSO which he played shortly after his graduation from Juilliard. It sizzled from beginning to end also eliciting a standing ovation after the last movement.

For now, he has given up his role as concertmaster of the MSO and obviously focusing on soloist role and more chamber music.

Like most musicians who survived the pandemic, he has good reasons to be thankful. “The pandemic definitely made me a better person. It taught me to appreciate every opportunity and moments that we are on stage performing and doing what we love or being with people we love.”

The violinist with Pablo Tariman backstage at the CCP in 2016.

He reviews his regimen as he prepares to rehearse with the PPO. “I do the same routine as if it’s another regular day. I pray, I take a shower, practice my scales then run some passages then do the dress rehearsal if there is. I just have to make sure I don’t get too mentally and physically drained for the concert at night. Sometimes I nap in the dressing room.”

Saraza plays on a 1972 French violin made by Eugene Guinot and Rene Morel courtesy of the Standard Insurance Company.

(Ticket Prices:P3,000 (Orchestra Center), P2,000 (Orchestra Side), P2,500 (Loge Center), P1,500 (Loge Side) and P800 (Balcony 1).

Tickets still available at TicketWorld.)

KASILAG, SAINT-SAENS, SCHUBERT CLOSE PPO SEASON

KASILAG, SAINT-SAENS, SCHUBERT CLOSE PPO SEASON

by Pablo A. Tariman

The 39th season of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra comes to an end April 19, 7:30 p.m. at the Samsung Theater for Performing Arts with Lucrecia Kasilag’s Violin Concerto No. 1 along with Camille Saint-Saëns Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28 with Diomedes Saraza, Jr. as soloist.

National Artist for Music Lucrecia Kasilag with National Artist for film Kidlat Tahimik at the Makiling Arts Center with Pablo Tariman and Johanna Cabili.

National Artist for Music Kasilag was recognized for including indigenous Filipino instruments in orchestral works. her works include over 350 musical compositions, ranging from folk songs to opera and orchestral pieces.

Among her works are Love Songs, Legend of the Sarimanok, Ang Pamana, Philippine Scenes, Her Son, Jose, Sisa and chamber music like Awit ng mga Awit Psalms, Fantaisie on a 4-Note Theme, and East Meets Jazz Ethnika.

The concert will be capped by Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, D.485, B-flat Major under the baton of Maestro Grzegorz Nowak.

My last precious moments with the National Artist for Music I fondly call “Tita King” were at the launch of her autobiography, “Lucrecia Roces Kasilag: My Story,” when she was 79. By then, she was hard of hearing, nearly blind and always on a wheelchair.

She pulled me aside with her book and signed it: “To dear Pablo, ‘My Story’ is all yours to talk about. Love, Tita King—January 15, 2000.”

Ten years later, in 2008, she passed away at age 89, 15 days short of turning 90.

I remember rushing an obituary that was difficult to write. The country lost a National Artist. I lost a friend and a music mentor who encouraged my music festivals on the island even knowing fully I was operating on zero budget.

In August 2018, Tita King’s 100th birth year was celebrated with musicians and friends giving her a big tribute at the Cultural Center of the Philippines which she headed for 17 years.

I did share her music, but more than that, I shared her life long after her CCP term and long after she became National Artist for Music.

She was my special music lecturer when I founded the 1992 Catanduanes Summer Music Festival. She did a lecture on music in Tingog Center in Bato town, and another at the Risen Christ Hall in Virac town.

The former CCP president with Cecile Licad and her father, Dr. Jesus V. Licad.

She loved the island’s shorelines and the clear placid sea between Virac and Bato that she thought looked like New Zealand.

In this lecture, she talked about ethnic music instruments and called for volunteers to play chamber music with her. She wouldn’t stop until she had convinced her audience that music didn’t begin and end with Western composers.

Before the lecture, backstage, I told her there was no elaborate dressing room in this island venue. “No problem, Pablo,” she said. “Just close your eyes and I will quickly change into my lecture and performance attire.”

It is a grand coincidence that I met Tita King and the then child piano prodigy, Cecile Licad, in Legazpi City, and in the same year: 1975.

Licad and Tita King stayed in the house of the late former Albay judge Jesus Rebustillo and ballet teacher Dehlia Napay Rebustillo.

Part of this family was Albay composer Everardo Napay (Dehlia Rebustillo’s brother), an architect. Napay, in consultation with Tita King, dreamed of an Albay Cultural Center, complete with the laying of a cornerstone in that part of land between the Albay barracks and a hospital.

That dream was never realized, but Tita King, then CCP president, gave Albay its first glimpse of a 14-year-old Licad as part of CCP’s outreach program.

This was 13 years before she became National Artist and five years before Licad would become the first Filipino, perhaps the first Asian, to receive the Leventritt Gold Medal in New York. (It is the same award that went to eminent pianists Van Cliburn and Gary Graffman.)

Accompanying Tita King while revisiting the Albay landmarks she had known in her youth in 1975, we visited Camalig Church. She said her family lived for a while in Albay when her father, Marcial Kasilag (then with the Department of Public Works), was assigned to oversee road and bridge construction.

Tita King recalled how the family never once used her father’s official car, conscious it was about proper decorum for government officials.

In 1975, Tita King gave the Rebustillo family in Albay tickets to the CCP concert of Licad who played three concertos in one evening. I was part of this Albay entourage.

After my first CCP exposure that year, I became a frequent theatergoer with unlimited theater passes, courtesy of Tita King.

After Licad, I saw a San Francisco Opera production of “Tosca” at CCP, with no less than Placido Domingo singing  the role of Cavaradossi.

Cover of Dr. Kasilag’s autobiography.

It was then that I stopped writing about travel and crime and turned to the performing arts. My education in the arts reached a high point in 1980, when I joined the CCP’s media office as editor of its Arts Monthly.

Since I also wrote press releases for CCP shows as part of my job, I got to know the inside stories behind every engagement.

During her CCP term, I got to watch the Bolshoi Ballet, soprano Montserrat Caballe, pianist Andre Watts, conductor Henry Lewis and the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, among many others.

The talent fee of Rostropovich at the time (early ’80s) was $25,000. To Tita King’s surprise, after the performance, the legendary cellist returned the check as donation to CCP.

It was also during her CCP term that I would frequent her home in Perdigon, Paco, and have breakfast or lunch with her on weekends.

It was here that I would get a glimpse of the souvenirs from her youth—she played Felix Mendelssohn’s “May Breezes” in a student recital at age 12. She had her tomboyish teens, once leaping from the rooftop and falling through the kitchen roof, which left her with bleeding nose and bruised arms.

Did Tita King ever have a love life?

In her autobiography, Tita King wrote about a frequent visitor (initials DM) who owned a large printing press. His frequent visits became known to Tita King’s inner circle, and former CCP president Bing Roxas would tease her about it.

One such courtship dialogue went like this:

“I’m 80,” suitor declared, “and you are 70. Why don’t we just get together? We are made for each other, you know.”

Some cheek, she said in her mind.

“What’s more,” he continued, “I have enough money. I saved up P3 million I discovered in the safe where my wife had kept it.”

She told the poor suitor that the money belonged to his children who seemed to encourage their father’s outpouring of love.

Cover of April 19 PPO concert.

Tall and silver-haired, Tita King’s suitor pressed his intentions right there at the CCP. As always, she would show him the door, saying she was quite busy.

Wrote Tita King: “At every threshold in my life, there seemed to be one gentleman or another wanting to enter my life.”

On this her 100th year, I remember Tita King not just for her compositions, but also for her being a persistent music educator.

On top of that, she was a warm human being able to share jokes with this islander she ushered into the CCP for the first time in 1975.

“You know, Pablo,” she would say. “Music appeals to people of varied persuasions. But sadly, many love music that appeals to the feet rather than to your heart and mind. That is why we have to constantly educate and reach out to the provinces.”

On the night CCP gave her a big tribute, I recalled Tita King, inspired and resolute as ever, making music with both teachers and students in Catanduanes.

===========

From the CCP mailbox: The Cultural Center of the Philippines has announced new appointments to its Board of Trustees, namely Isidro A. Consunji, Jonathan Velasco, Felix “Monino” Duque, Atty. Gizela M. Gonzalez, and Carissa Coscolluela.

The newly appointed CCP Trustees bring with them a wealth of experiences from their engagement in the private, public, and government sectors.

“The CCP is stronger with the new appointments by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. The new trustees, I believe, will greatly contribute to theater management, law, engineering and construction, and artistic productions,” said CCP Chairman Jaime C. Laya.

The CCP Board of Trustees during the CCP General Assembly held at the Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez: (from left) Isidro A. Consunji, Jonathan M. Velasco, Dr. Jaime C. Laya, Atty. Gizela M. Gonzalez, Margie Moran-Floirendo, Junie S. Del Mundo, Felix S. Duque. Not in photo: Marivic del Pilar and Carissa Coscolluella.

Earning his degree in civil engineering from the University of the Philippines and a master’s in business administration from the Asian Institute of Management, Consunji is currently the chief executive officer of Semirara Mining Corporation and DMCI Holdings Inc.

Currently a lecturer of voice at the UP College of Music, Jonathan Velasco is a member and assistant conductor of the World Youth Choir. Together with his choirs, he has won first prizes in choral competitions in Slovenia, Ireland, Germany, and Spain. He is the conductor of the Ateneo Chamber Singers.

Monino Duque returns to CCP with a new role. He served as the theater director of the institution from 1973 to 1994. He has designed numerous productions at the CCP, including Tales of Manuvu, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and Madame Butterfly, among others.

With a Master of Law degree from Harvard, Gizela M. Gonzalez has expertise in corporate and intellectual property. A director of several corporations and trustee of various non-profit organizations, Atty. Gonzalez continues to champion poverty alleviation by addressing basic human needs.

A Filipino humanitarian and politician, Carissa Coscolluela is currently part of the Philippine Ballet Theatre Board of Trustees. A governor of the Philippine Red Cross, Coscolluela is also a member of the Helgstrand Dressage, one of the world’s most decorated and successful stables for the training and selling of dressage horses.

The new appointees will join the other Trustees, namely Chairman Laya and Trustee Junie del Mundo, who were reappointed by President Marcos, and interim Trustees Maria Margarita Moran-Floirendo and Marivic del Pilar to lead the CCP in fulfilling its vision of promoting arts and culture in the Philippines.

An Enchanting Night with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

Celebrated and prize-winning pianist Roustem Saitkoulov is soloist in in Frédéric Chopin’s “Piano Concerto No.2 in F Minor.

Composed in 1829, this concerto remains a beloved and significant contribution to the piano repertoire, reflecting Chopin’s unique voice within the Romantic era.

See you on February 9, 2024 | 7:30PM at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater!

Another enchanting night with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, under Maestro Grzegorz Nowak

For ticket inquiries, group discounts, and subscriptions:

🎫 Call the CCP Box Office at + 63 931 033 0880 or email salesandpromotions@culturalcenter.gov.ph.
🎫 Go to the TicketWorld website https://ow.ly/fttJ50Qtq4g

Search for National Artists 2025

Search for National Artists 2025

‘LET’S AVOID PAROCHIAL CHOICES’ – CCP CHAIR JAIME C. LAYA

Filipino talents now abound and being cheered not only in native shores but also in Europe and USA.

CCP chair Jaime C. Laya.

Thus, said CCP chair Jaime C. Laya as he urged cultural workers to actively participate in nominating their choices for the 2025 search for National Artists in Music, Visual Arts, Dance, and Theater.

“We have heard of this phenomenal Filipino-Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski who is now a sensation world-wide at age 23 and this Filipino tenor (Arthur Espiritu) who is making waves in Europe from Germany to Switzerland, Warsaw and Bulgaria. These are the kind of talents we should look out for. We cannot be very parochial nominating artists in your own circle and not looking for real talents beyond,” he pointed out.

He added the nominees need not be famous for as long as they meet the criteria with solid documentation.

Dr. Laya spoke during the press conference for announcement of the search for National Artists in various categories for the year 2025.

Also present in the press conference were National Artist for Literature Gemino Abad, National Artist for

Dance Alice Reyes, and National Artist for Film Ricky Lee.

The national artists gathered backstage to have a common “keynote speech” but decided to just entertain questions from the media.

National Artists for Film and Dance Ricky Lee and Alice Reyes at NCCA presscon.

NCCA chair Victorino Manalo said the search for National Artists has always been taxing and rigorous. “We get all kinds of feedback. We were told why this and that artist was never considered at all. Foremost of all, the artist’s credentials should be well-documented. After accepting all the nominations, a research group goes over the documents and check the veracity of the curriculum vitae of the nominees for six months. Another six months will be spent on deliberations on the nominees before they selected ones are announced. I assure you there will be more rigorous argumentations than petty arguments.”

On the questions of more men than women being nominated especially in the visual arts, National Artist for Dance Reyes pointed out: “I believe the search should be genderless. The body of works of the artist should matter regardless of gender.”

CCP President Michelle Nikki Junia stressed that the country’s National Artists are the face and window for the arts of any country. “They are the face of the Filipinos in

both local and international arenas of the arts. Their works define who we are as a country.”

Also, in the NCCA presscon were NCCA Executive Director Oscar Casaysay and NCCA Deputy Executive Director Marichu Tellano.

Only government or non-government cultural organization can nominate as well as private foundations and councils.

“We no longer accept nominations by individuals,” pointed out Manalo.

NCCA Deputy Executive Director Marichu Tellano said National Artists get P200,000 upon proclamation and P50,000 monthly allowance plus another P750,000 for medical needs. “They also get a state funeral when they pass away,” she added.

A day after the NCCA presscon, netizens had a field day nominating their choices.

NCCA head Victorino Manalo.

Award-winning author Ninotchka Rosca and screenwriter Gina Marissa Tagasa posted on FB that the late writer Lualhati Bautista should be considered for National Artists for Literature.

Netizen John Iremil Teodoro suggested names from the Visayas namely Merlie Alunan, Leoncio P. Deriada and Magdalena Jalandoni.

Music lovers from all over the country are one in saying that national recognition for pianist Cecile Licad is long overdue.

Said Science City of Munoz (Nueva Ecija) Vice-mayor Nestor Alvarez:” She was national treasure since age ten and is one of the country’s greatest living artists with solid credentials not just locally but in the international stage as well. My town has honored her as adopted daughter of Munoz, Nueva Ecija because of her exemplary status as world-class artist. Very few can match her status as national and international celebrity in music.”

National Artist for Film Ricky Lee said his life hasn’t changed much since he was declared National Artist for Film. “But I get extra pride in knowing that film writers are given the recognition they deserve. They work closely with directors and technically they should share equal credits with directors and cinematographers. I am getting used to being acknowledged in cultural gatherings. It takes some time getting used to it.”

The Order of National Artist (ONA) or Orden ng Pambansang Alagad ng Sining, was established by virtue of Proclamation No. 1001 dated April 27, 1972.

It bestows appropriate recognition and prestige on Filipinos who have distinguished themselves and made outstanding contributions to Philippine arts and letters.

Deadline for nominations is June 30, 2024. – Vera Files

(All inquiries and nominations should be submitted to: The Order of National Artist onaa@ncca.gov.ph 8-5272192 local 507 Office of the

Executive Director National Commission for Culture and the Arts NCCA Building, 633 General Luna Street, Intramuros, 1002 Manila.)

PPO OPENS WITH SARUNG BANGUI

Music Notes
PPO OCT. 13 CONCERT OPENS WITH SARUNG BANGUI SERENADE BY BICOL COMPOSER POTENCIANO GREGORIO

by Pablo A. Tariman

There are other music offering awaiting music lovers on Friday October 13, 7:30 p.m. with the PPO performing at the Samsung Theater for Performing Arts in Circuit Makati City.

Maestro Grzegorz Nowak with the PPO.

Apart from the Dvorak cello concerto and Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony, the famous Bicol folksong Sarung Banggi by Potenciano Gregorio will be given symphonic treatment in the opening number Sarung Banggi: A Symphonic Serenade arranged by Angel Pena.

The Bicol composer Gregorio turned 143 last May with a festival carrying the name of his composition.

His famous love song has two birth dates, one in 1897, when Gregorio was just 17. But in research by Bicol historian Dr. Merito Espinas, who conducted interviews with descendants of the composer, it appeared that the piece was only completed on May 10, 1910, which makes it 113 years old.

It was premiered three months later on the same year—not in Sto. Domingo (previously named Libog), where the composer was born —but in the town fiesta of Guinobatan, Albay. Among those reportedly impressed by the Guinobatan world premiere of Sarung Bangui was American President Howard Taft, then governor general of the Philippines. As the Espinas research indicated, a band arrangement of Sarung Banggi materialized in 1918 and was performed by Banda de Libog. Another version was made for a symphony orchestra in 1930.

The most awaited warhorse of course is the Dvorak cello concerto with soloist Wen-Sinn Yang (of Taiwanese parentage) a top winner of the Geneva International Cello Competition.

Swiss cellist Wen-Sinn Yang.

Said Maestro Grzegorz Nowak of the cello piece:
“It is a fabulous work, very dramatic. It displays virtuosity of the cellist, but at the same time it is a symphonic work, full of drama and wonderful musical themes and phrases. It is very close to my heart, especially that I performed it with some of the best cellists of our times.”

By coincidence, Rostropovich was also soloist of the PPO in 1982 in the same Dvorak cello concerto which earned him not just standing ovation but a shower of confettis and roses raining on the CCP Little Theater stage.

Maestro Nowak worked with Rostropovich for an entire month conducting several concerts during the “Festival Musique en Mer” – a tour on board the ship Mermoz with concerts in Mediterranean ports.

With Rostropovich, he conducted Dvořák Cello concerto, Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, Haydn Cello concerto No. 1 and Beethoven Triple Concerto. “It was always a wonderful experience full of fantastic music making. Rostropovich complemented me by saying that nobody gave him better accompaniment.”

The PPO music director met cellist Wen-Sinn Yang when the Swiss cellist won the top prize in the Geneva International Music Competition. At that time, he was music director of a Swiss orchestra in Biel. “I invited the winner to play with us. We immediately bonded musically and collaborated often ever since. He is a versatile cellist with masterful technique, wonderful rich sound and his interpretations are mature and deeply moving. No wonder that he’s often hailed as Rostropovich’s successor.”

When Yang performed in Frankfurt some years back, the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau wrote of his performance in Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1 thus: “”Cellist Wen-Sinn Yang proved himself in terms of technique and expression as a worthy successor to Mstislav Rostropovich!”

But nothing beats the conductor’s dramatic encounter with pianist Martha Argerich (a friend of Cecile Licad) when she was soloist of the Sinfonia Varsovia in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

In his own words, the Varsovia experience was fabulous musically but highlighted with high drama fit for a teleserye.

The engagement was some ten years after she quit the jury of Chopin International Competition in protest over Ivo Pogorelić’s non-inclusion in the list of finalists (he was one of the best).

Younger Cecile Licad with Martha Argerich and friends in Munich, Germany.

The drama started in the only rehearsal scheduled for the day. “Martha (Argerich) did not show up. The manager told me that she would not perform because the previous night, she did not get any sleep quarreling with her partner Alexandre Rabinovitch (a conductor). At the time of the first rehearsal, they are still quarreling in the hotel room. I suggested that the Radio Varsovia should offer Rabinovitch a guided tour of Warsaw so that my soloist could get some sleep and perform the Chopin E Minor concerto without rehearsal.”

When Argerich showed up in the theater in the evening, she drank several cups of coffee and told the Polish conductor she could not perform. “She looked too tired and her hands were shaking. I suggested that she should at least let the audience see her for a few minutes during orchestral opening and if she did not play at all or play but stop at any moment, I would explain it to the audience. We played the introduction with all our heart, hoping that she would play at least one movement. She liked what we played. She started touching the keys and played like a Goddess with flawless technique, full of passion, drama and temperament, love, tenderness, melancholy – a totally inspired, perfect, dream-like performance. It is absolutely true that music unites people in such a unique way that all conflicts, hatred, disagreements or negative feelings are quickly replaced with understanding, friendship and love. Guess who was the first person who stormed backstage and wholeheartedly congratulated Martha? It was Rabinovitch who was totally moved by this performance.”

As it turned out, Argerich’s partner forgot all the quarrels of the last twenty-four hours and after the performance was in full love again with that wonderful artist and woman of consequence.

He recalled the wonderful outcome of that dramatic concert. “The concert was broadcast live by the Radio Varsovia. After Rabinovitch, she let other people congratulate Martha. Clever manager asked her if she would agree to release a CD with this wonderful performance. When she said yes, he pulled a printed agreement and asked her to sign. That’s how a very unusual CD was issued with a typical program from concerts complete with overture, piano concerto and symphony.”

The CD got fantastic reviews with Diapason in Paris hailing it as “indispensable… a must” collector’s item.

He was pleased with his opening concert with PPO last September. “The orchestra lived up to my expectations with that very good concert. Filipino audience is warm, friendly and supportive. But with such a large venue we need a larger audience. This orchestra deserves much larger audience.”

Rostropovich greeting model Crispy Santamaria during a fashion show in Malacanang in the early 80s.

A top winner of the Ernest Ansermet International Conducting Competition, Maestro Nowak recalls the maestros who inspired him when he was just starting. “When I saw on TV the concerts with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, I decided that I absolutely had to study with these masters. I made it happen thanks to my winning the Koussevitzky fellowship at Tanglewood (summer season of Boston Symphony Orchestra and master classes for students with world most famous artists). Among conductors I worked with were such also such super stars as Eric Leinsdorf, Kurt Masur and Maurice Abravanel. But Bernstein and Ozawa were my heroes and both had the biggest influence. When a few years later I assisted Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic and showed him our photo from Tanglewood, he commented with a smile, ‘We were both much younger than.’”

His advice to aspiring conductors: “Practice, practice, practice.”

(The complete PPO program on October 13 includes

Sarung Banggi: A Symphonic Serenade by Potenciano Gregorio Sr. (arr. Angel Peña); Dvorak’s

Cello Concerto, Op.104, and Mendelssohn’s

Symphony No. 4, Op.90, in A major (“Italian”. For tickets, call CCP at 09998843820 or TicketWorld Tel. 8891 9999 or 09310330880.)

A DAZZLING 38TH YEAR GALA CONCERT

Dance Notes
A DAZZLING 38TH YEAR GALA CONCERT
by Pablo A. Tariman

The Halili-Cruz School of Dance marked its 38th year with a grand concert aptly called Diversifiera last July 30, 2023 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater

The event also marked the 35th year of the Halili-Cruz Dance Company also known as the Quezon City Ballet.

The opening number, Awit Sa Paghahandog, by Anna Kathrina Halili-Cruz Bueno with music by Charlie Senzon, NSJ.

The title of the concert, Diversifiera 2023: Pagdiriwang Ng Sailing Atin was indeed most fitting.

Easily spotted was the presence of National Artist for Dance, Alice Reyes, seated with the HCSD founder and director, Shirley Halili-Cruz.

To make the event doubly memorable, the dance school and the dance company decided to celebrate the art of dance with works of Filipino composers interpreted with choreographic imagination by the school’s trusted mentors, Shirley Halili-Cruz (founder and director) and Anna Kathrina Halili-Cruz Bueno and Grace Garalde Perez as associate directors.

National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes with HCSD founder and director Shirley Halili-Cruz.

The other dance attraction was the presence of the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra under Rodel Colmenar and the world-famous Philippine Madrigal Singers under Mark Carpio.

It was double treat seeing dancers dancing to live music with the country’s leading choral ensemble and orchestral music provided by one of the country’s versatile orchestras, the Manila Philharmonic under Colmenar.

Most apt was the concert opener, Awit Sa Paghahandog, choreographed by Anna Kathrina Halili-Cruz Bueno to the music by Charlie Senzon, NSJ.

As it was, the opening number was both visual and aural delight.

The dancers in white filled up the theater with aura of thanksgiving made more meaningful by the music of Senzon who wove waves of sounds easily conjuring images of purity and religious tribute.

The artistic team: Shirley Halili-Cruz, Anna Kathrina Halili-Cruz Bueno and Grace Garalde Perez.

It set the tone for the rest of the dance program celebrating Original Pilipino Music (OPM).

Images of the Filipino flag filled the stage in the dance number, Bayan Ko by Constancio de Guzman and choreographed by Grace Garalde-Perez. The dancers in red, white and blue blended perfectly with the message of the music.

Who would ever think that Lucio San Pedro’s Lahing Kayumanggi performed by the Manila Philharmonic under Colmenar could be translated into dance using classical syllabus?

The dancers in black and white were pure classicism at its most commendable using orchestral music of the distinguished Lucio San Pedro.

The evolution of the Filipina was the essence of Tony Fabella’s Dalagang Filipina re-staged by Grace Perez to the music of Richard Tan. The dancers in assorted Filipina costumes with the Philippine map in the background were echoes of pure choreographic gem.

Easily an elegant and fluid number was Pangarap Na Bituin choreographed by Kathrina Halili-Cruz to the music of Willy Cruz.

The concert offering certainly went beyond the classical and midway went into the popular.

The dancers’ costumes in Da Coconut Nut (choreography by Jeng Halili and restaged by Grace Perez) elicited instant audience approval.

Scene from a popular dance number, Da Coconut Nat by Jeng Halili.

Limang Dipang Tao (choreographed by Halili-Cruz Bueno to the music of Ryan Cayabyab) mirrored fun even as in real life, the jeepneys portrayed the continuing travails of the Filipino commuters and the jeepney drivers hard hit by fuel increases.

Certainly, the 38th anniversary offering of the Halili-Cruz School of Dance has something for everybody thus showing off the versatility of its dancers.

Also widely cheered was the Ako’y Pinoy number with music by Francis Magalona and Heber Bartolome. and choreographed by Marco De Ausen, Akin Ka Na Lang choreographed by Julia Camille Mazo with music by The Itchy Worms and Butsekik choreographed by Mazo to the popular music of Yoyoy Villame.

The finale number, Ang Tanghalang Ito (choreographed by the teachers of the Halili-Cruz School of Dance with music by Pat Valera and William Elvin Manzano) summed up the varied, if, eclectic, dance offering of the Halili-Cruz Conservatory.

The widely cheered curtain calls were tribute to its teachers and founder and the quality of its students.

The July 30 dance concert was certainly a perfect collaboration between the dance school and the Philippine Madrigal Singers and the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra.

It was a big night as well for Pilipino music connecting with a new generation of dancers.

HALILI-CRUZ SCHOOL OF DANCE MARKS 38TH YEAR

Dance Notes
HALILI-CRUZ SCHOOL OF DANCE MARKS 38TH YEAR
by Tanya Guerrero

The Halili-Cruz School of Dance will mark its 38th year with a dance concert on Sunday, July 30, 2023 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at the Newport Theater for Performing Arts in Pasay City.

The Halili-Cruz School of Dance in Quezon City. Thirty eight years of dance education.

“Our first ten years were exciting and highly challenging as well,” said Dr. Shirley Halili-Cruz, director of the Halili-Cruz School of Dance and Conservatory. “That’s the period we were doing international study tours and actively participating in international dance festivals and competitions. We knew we were on the right track because our students get high marks in international dance examinations,” she added.

Pursuing a professional career in dance education, Dr. Halili-Cruz trained and completed professional teaching courses in Dance Educators of America, American Ballet Center, Neubert Ballet Institute and in the New York Academy of Ballet.

Apart from winning top prizes in international dance competitions, the students of the Halili-Cruz School of Dance received very high rating in the International Assessment for Dance by the Commonwealth Society of Teachers of Dancing and by the United Dance Organization.

Also, chairperson of the NCCA National Committee on Dance in the past 15 years, Dr. Halili-Cruz has initiated several projects for arts promotion and cultural education.

Some students and teachers share their experience at the Halili-Cruz School of Dance.

HCSD Director Shirley Halili-Cruz with associate directors Anna Kathrina Halili-Cruz Bueno and Grace Perez.

Said student Alexa Vicencio: “My years in Halili-Cruz School of Dance gave me something to remember. I will always remember the summer recitals and competitions. The HCSD is a second home where you get to learn so many facets of dance. It is the school that has given me   opportunities to grow as a dancer and as a person.”

Another HCSD student Gwyneth de Mesa said the coming July 30 dance concert made her appreciate and be knowledgeable about different cultures. “It has been quite a journey. The things you learn about dance certainly widened my arts horizon.”

HCSD teacher Lia Mazo says good dance teaching is not just about being well versed with the steps and other dance routines. “It is also about learning what your students are capable of and what they need to further improve on. It also about learning from your students and building a relationship with them and inspiring them to feel safe, valued and proud about themselves while doing the thing they love most which is dancing.”

Dance mentor Aira Rostrata says a good teacher motivates their students to work hard and keep going. “Dance is not just about sparkling costumes and beautiful make up. We want our students to be at their best expressing themselves through dancing.”

Student and junior teacher Toni Noel say it is always fulfilling to watch students dance her own choreography on stage. “What is fulfilling is seeing the smiles on their faces after they perform. I always try to make the classes fun and enjoyable, but still try to maintain the discipline needed to train dancers.

Student-teacher Sam Liao: “I believe that a good teacher is one who brings out the best in their students by giving them the tools they need to help them grow and improve as a dancer.”

Dr. Halili-Cruz says all the teachers in her school are outstanding graduates of the 12-level ballet syllabus she authored.

Associate director Anna Kathrina Halili-Cruz Bueno says it was a good learning process learning from her mother at the helm of the dance school. “It was easy absorbing my job as associate director because I’ve been with her since I was seven years old. I know how she teaches and how she encourages all her students to enjoy and love dance. I guess I inherited her passion for the art and to strive for excellence in anything that I do.”

Swan Lake as mounted by the Halili-Cruz School of Dance.

Associate director Grace Perez says that together with Ms. Anna Kathrina Halili-Cruz Bueno, they see to it that the school is run properly. “We are very much hands- on in everything related to the school – teachers, classes, rehearsals, schedules, performances, costumes, music, casting and the like. Our general task is how to keep the school on its toes.”

The July 30, 2023 dance concert at the Newport Theater for Performing Arts in Pasay City will have the special appearance of the Philippine Madrigal Singers and the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra.

AFTER MAGIC FLUTE, DON GIOVANNI AUGUST 1

Opera Notes
AFTER MAGIC FLUTE, DON GIOVANNI AUGUST 1
by Pablo A. Tariman

Without flying to New York, Manila operaphiles had an intimate glimpse of a Met opening night Tuesday (July 11) at Cinema 1. Greenbelt 3 with the screening of a new production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Magic Flute) directed by Simon McBurney.

CCP President Margie Moran Floirendo before the screening of Magic Flute. (Photo: Kiko Cabuena)

Baritone Thomas Oliemans as Papageno was endearing, the Pamina of Erin Morley has ample vocal appeal and the Tamino of Lawrence Brownlee offered more solid vocal output than physical appeal.

Filipinos who have sung Tamino in various productions include tenors Noel Velasco (CCP 1982), Arthur Espiritu (various productions in Germany and Israel) and Nomher Nival at St. Scholastica’s College Auditorium in 2019.

“We hope that this regular screening of live operas at the Met will bring in more audiences for this art form,” CCP President Margie Moran Floirendo said before the screening. “It is really the least expensive way to enjoy first-rate production of operas without having to travel to New York.”

CCP Vice-President and artistic director Dennis Marasigan announced the other operas in the series and introduced soprano Em Alcantara who sang Pamina’s aria and the Queen of the Night favorite before the screening.

Also present in the screening was Dr. Jaime Laya, head Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc.

As for the filmed opera, Greenbelt audiences saw not just the complete opera but also one-on-one interviews with lead singers, the director and conductor during the intermission. They provided good production insights into the staging of the opera.

New version of Magic Flute has Erin Morley as Pamina and Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino.

The Met’s latest Magic Flute staging had the orchestra and special effects artists sharing the stage with the singers.

Costumes for the ensembles looked bizarre for the conservative opera lovers.

The women wore combat boots and strange fur coats.
You can see special effects person Ruth Sullivan on stage left and showing audiences how sounds are made true to life.

If the Three Ladies in the 1982 CCP staging of Magic Flute bordered on the demure, this Met production has three oversized ladies (Alexandria Shiner, Olivia Vote, Tamara Mumford) lusting after Tamino’s body. They stripped Tamino down to his underwear and managed to do sensual sniffing which had the audiences laughing with amusement.

Thomas Oliemans was an adorable Papageno but the Sarastro of Stephen Milling with his solid bass takes the cake.

As expected, the Queen of the Night aria of soprano Kathryn Lewek was the show stealer. When she appeared in the curtain call, the Met audiences just stood up to give her a well-deserved standing ovation. The soprano was teary-eyed over audience rection.

In this unusual staging, orchestra flutist Seth Morris gave the audience a taste of the magic flute – the real sound. Bryan Wagorn got to demonstrate how the keyboard glockenspiel work for the character of Papageno.

The final closing chorus (“Schönheit und Weisheit”) of the ensemble was almost hair-raising (at least to this opera lover). It brought back memories of the magical CCP nights at the opera in 1982.

Nathalie Stutzmann conducted not just with authority but with love. Not surprising. She was a singer (a French contralto) before she turned to conducting.

About the 1982 Magic Flute at the CCP, a chapter in the autobiography of National Artist for Music Lucrecia Kasilag revealed the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ best-kept opera-production figure. The then CCP president (now national Artist for Music) revealed a “hefty $250,000 [roughly more than P13 million today] was paid to Sarah Caldwell of the Boston Opera to produce the English version of Mozart’s Magic Flute.

Lilia Reyes, the first Pamina seen at CCP in 1982 shown here signing autograph after a performance.

The CCP then had a cultural tie-up with the Opera Company of Boston headed by the eminent Caldwell hailed as “one of America’s best-known and most adventurous conductors and opera directors.”

Reasoned out Caldwell to this writer in 1981 at the height of the Magic Flute controversy: “I don’t think we have to apologize for the economic problems of the entire world and the fact that they affect us. This [opera] company will stay alive, and I am very proud of the cast that we have been able to assemble. The pressure to present the great stars is always there, but, generally, by the time they become great stars, they can’t sing anymore anyway. You will hear that there are not that many Sarah Reeses and Noel Velascos that come along; we are going to make our own stars and that will be fun.”

In the 1982 CCP Magic Flute, Noel Velasco was Tamino, Gamaliel Viray was Papageno alternating with Robert Orth and Lilia Reyes and Jovita Castro alternating as Pamina.

Caldwell who led the PPO in 1982 is described by Time magazine as America’s “Music’s Wonder Woman,” and the first woman conductor to be seen at the Metropolitan Opera starring her best friend, soprano Beverly Sills who sang at the Meralco Theater in 1989. She is the subject of two memoirs: “Challenges: A Memoir of My Life in Opera,” by Caldwell with Rebecca Matlock (Wesleyan University Press, 2008); and “Sarah Caldwell: The First Woman of Opera,” by Daniel Kessler (Scarecrow Press, 2008).

One will remember Caldwell as opera’s tireless warrior during that Manila encounter of 1981. I remember what she said to me: “Every country should strive to bring music to all people regardless of social backgrounds. And, by saying that, one does not say that opera is any less precious or any less special. It just means that our people are entitled to experience the precious special things in life.”

Conductor Sarah Caldwell with Pablo Tariman after Magic Flute rehearsals in 1981.

Magic Flute was also staged in 2019 at the St. Scholastica’s College with Camille Lopez Molina as director and with the following cast: Myramae Meneses as Pamina, Lorenz Lapresca; Nomher Nival as Tamino, Kevin Chan as Papagueno, Roxy Aldiosa, Bernaduette Mamauag and Mavel Bautista as Queen of the Night, Roby Malubay as Sarastro and Carlo S. Mañalac as Monostatos, among others.

Baritone Hakan Hagegard, the Papageno in the 1975 Ingmar Bergman film version of Magic Flute was heard in a CCP concert in the late 70s.

More operas in the CCP-Met HD series include Verdi’s Falstaff on September 5, Umberto Giordano’s Fedora on October 3, Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel November 7 and Cosi Fan Tutte on December 5.

Now on its 8th season, the CCP’s The Met: Live in HD series is a special program of the CCP Film, Broadcast, and New Media Division in partnership with The Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc., and Ayala Malls Cinemas.

Students and young professionals may enjoy the screenings at PHP100.00 upon presentation of valid ID. Tickets are available at Greenbelt ticket booths and the website http://www.sureseats.com.

UNSINKABLE MENTORS OF DANCE AND HOW THEY SURVIVED THE PANDEMIC

Dance Notes
UNSINKABLE MENTORS OF DANCE AND HOW THEY SURVIVED THE PANDEMIC
by Pablo A. Tariman

For many in the performing arts, the sudden influx of the pandemic was a big leveler.

To be exact, the year of reckoning was March 2020. Over at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor managed to have full audiences last week of January and first week of February.

Then a nation-wide lockdown started March 15, 2020.

What followed was something the arts community did not expect. Performing arts venues closed and live audiences were gone for almost three years. Many arts personalities got sick and not a few didn’t survive the virus.

Shirley Halili-Cruz in Malacanang after she was given Ani ng Dangal Award. With her are the school’s associate artistic directors, Anna Halili Cruz Bueno and Grace Perez.

What happened in the dance world is just a mirror of what transpired world-wide.

Dance mentor Shirley Halili-Cruz, head of the Halili- Cruz School of Dance and the Halili-Cruz Conservatory, looks back to those years as though it happened just recently.

Halili-Cruz said her dance school was not spared but she responded in a positive way. “While this was not easy, we navigated through the difficulties with dedication and hard work.”

When the March 15, 2020 lockdown was imposed, the school was preparing for its recital on May 22 at the Meralco Theater.

For the first time in the history of the dance school, it announced a cancellation of the recital.

The school head immediately thought of alternatives.

Recalled Dr. Halili-Cruz: “Fortunately, we were able to learn and design our online classes using Zoom. The transition to virtual platform went very well from March to May 2020. We offered the online classes for free.”

The school created the Distance Dance Education and established several cycles of classes. They were able to program 30 different dance classes and attracted students not just from different parts of the country and even as far away as USA, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, Canada, and the Fiji Island.

Pointed out the school director who is also chairman of the NCCA Dance Committee: “Our teachers had to re- sharpen their teaching technique to be able cope with the demands of a technology-driven platform. As it turned out, we didn’t really close our dance school during the pandemic. We shifted easily and fast to the online platform. Our dance programs continued even with strict health protocol. Now our main studio is fully operating while our Miriam College and Poveda school branches have opened.”

With 730 dance students under their wing, the school now follows a 12-level ballet syllabus with a defined promotion and grading system. Dance training covers varied lessons from classical ballet, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, hiphop, tap and musical theater.

The Halili-Cruz school has two associate artistic directors, 8 full time senior faculty, 4 junior faculty and 4 part time teachers. In summer, the school has foreign teachers who interact with teachers and students on latest dance technique.

National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes was preparing for the re-staging of Rama Hari in March of 2020 when the lockdown was enforced in the country.

Reyes’s reaction: “The pandemic came to us as total shock, dismay, disbelief, and life disruption in all ways, as it was for everyone else!”

National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes at CCP.

It was followed by Ballet Philippines announcing it was suspending its operations for six months. The decision left the dancers with a measly P10,000 to last for six months.

Reyes recalled: “With the help of friends and supporters of the arts and dance, I went to fundraising mode, launched the Adopt-a-Dancer campaign to try and keep as many of the displaced dancers training, dancing, creating, and earning to pay rent, utilities, and buy food.”

The CCP with then president Nick Lizaso and Margie Moran Floirendo spearheaded the Professional Dance Support Program which gave grants to displaced dancers.

They were also able to put a dance floor at the main lobby where the doors fronting Roxas Boulevard could be kept open.

Continued Reyes: “So we were able to hold classes, do lecture demonstrations, and make short videos for dance students and dance enthusiasts that we posted on social media. We also worked on new choreographies which were then streamed online by the CCP to all the regions in the country and beyond.”

They had to follow protocol and only so many dancers could be at the class at any given time. On top of that, temperatures were taken, masks required at all times, distances kept, and constant cleaning and sanitizing of the floors and barres and furniture done at regular intervals.

Things got worse when the CCP ordered total closure of all its venues. “I brought the dancers into my home, turned two bedrooms into dance studios and we went on, via Zoom doing ballet and modern dance classes. Our young choreographers worked from their homes with their dancers at different locations. That was something to witness! Proof of that saying if there is a will, there will indeed be a way. New works that were produced under such conditions were put online by the CCP as a very successful series of dance shows called Dance On!

She had to keep dancers busy even after dance hours. She gave her four resident dancers recipes to whip up such as Greek Pastitsio, Lasagna and all kinds of fancy pasta sauces along with appetizers and sauces and desserts. Soon the dancers turned cook were doing Eggs Benedict Brunches on Sundays out on her patio. Friends and other dancers lined up to sit at the three communal tables, chairs at proper distances.”

More pandemic episodes: “This kept me busy, surrounded by all that youthful energy. Because we took all precautions, we all stayed healthy and active, though totally aware of and commiserating with the many lives lost, the numerous jobs gone, and businesses closing down.”

When the CCP opened its doors two years later (only to close again for a three-year renovation), her group was able to continue with an expanded Professional Artists Support Program (PASP) designed to give grants to displaced dancers from all professional dance companies.

They worked with dancers from the Philippine Ballet Theater, Ballet Manila and Steps Dance Center. “We created full dance productions at the end of each six- month program. We added a new regional outreach program that brought in dancers from the different regions of the country. We were able to invite teachers and choreographers from all around Metro Manila. They gave lectures, choreographed, and coached dance teachers and students from all over the islands.”

Dance teacher and choreographer and now National Artist for Dance Agnes Locsin had her share of difficulties keeping her Locsin Dance Workshop (LDW) dance school alive in Davao City.

The July 30 concert poster of the Halili-Cruz School of Dance

The dance school was founded by her mother, Carmen D Locsin, in 1947. It used to be that LDW was the only ballet school in Davao City with around 150 students every school year. Locsin reflected on the early years. “I started the summer workshop in 1982 and at that time, we would have 250 to 300 students. Those were our better days.”

In the late 40s, her mother started teaching in the sala (living room). The school has had several changes in location as the family grew. The name also changed. It used to be Locsin Ballet School, Locsin Ballet and Jazz School. “We stuck to Locsin Dance Workshop. During the schoolyear, we concentrated on classical ballet with a bit of modern dance. In the summer when a dance style was in demand, LDW taught classes in jazz, tap, modern dance, Hawaiian, slimnastics, aerobics, hip hop, ballroom, flamenco, voice, drama, art classes, among others.”

The dance maestra recalled the perilous first year of the pandemic thus: “We were preparing for a March 21, 2020 school recital when it happened. Alden Lugnasin and Biag Gaongen flew in to help out with the recital. The day after they arrived, lockdown was enforced. We have no choice but to cancel the recital. Caught by lockdown in Davao were my teachers Monique Uy and Samantha Martin including Alden Lugnasin and Biag Gaongen. I followed what dance schools in Manila were doing and that is to go virtual. I rued that with online classes, teachers can still have a little income. I wanted to close the school but I was worried for my teachers.”

Locsin’s LDW had about 70 to 80 students before the pandemic. The school has twice that enrolment during summer. During the lockdown, enrollment severely went down. They were left with 25 to 30 students in the beginning of the pandemic. She decided to give 70 to 80 per cent of the school’s online income to her teachers.

Quickly, she had to think of another domestic survival project. “We opened Gigi’s Kitchen during the day to cover expenses of the house. The Kitchen served food from my Mom’s recipe.”

There was a lot of adjustments teaching dance during the pandemic. The online classes started May 2020 and ended September 2022.

It turned out she was the only one who cannot handle online classes. “Fortunately, Alden was here to handle the advance ballet class. Fortunately, I only had to teach pointe class once a week.”

But online classes have its drawback.

Teachers realized progress in students was so
slow online.

Pointed out Locsin: “Without the touch of the teacher’s hands, it was difficult for the students to understand the needs of the proper way of executing the dance movements. But we have no choice. We had to make the most of what we could do teaching during the pandemic. We were fortunate to have Biag who took dance film courses as part of his MFA at the Ohio State University. Because of him, we were still able to be creative with our virtual recitals and showcases during the pandemic.”

It was virtually the same scenarios in the Vella C. Damian School of Ballet in Quezon City. They were preparing for a school recital March 29 at the Meralco Theater when the lockdown was imposed.

Ms. Damian recalls: “Dances were all rehearsed, costumes and souvenir program in full color delivered. Then suddenly, we were informed all the theaters have to close including our venue with rentals already paid.”

It was good timing her niece, Elline Damian and her husband Jojo Espejo retired from teaching from the David Campos Ballet School in Barcelona, Spain. (She was principal dancer of the David Campos Ballet.) Since Vella is not into online teaching, her niece did the job. She noticed many quit schoolings during the virtual classes. “I believe there is nothing like a face to face group classes.”

The ballet schools were indeed hit hard specially those renting spaces in mall.

Good thing the Association of Ballet Academies Philippines (ABAP) came to their rescue.

As many dance teachers were rendered jobless, ABAP offered “no interest loans” to its members.

The Association also continued its yearly Dance Series online and allowed teachers and students to perform even with pre-recorded numbers as entries. Moreover, the pandemic opened a new field in dance education for her. “I have been invited to be part of a body to review dance curriculum for the academic schools. Now I do one-on-one ballet classes. As one of the founders of ABAP, I work hand in hand with its present Board of Director.”

Shirley Halili-Cruz (seated) and Vella Damian with founding members of the Association of Ballet Academies of the Philippines (ABAP) (from left) the late Amelia Garcia Yulo, Vella Damian, Nida Onglengco Pangan, Araceli Valera and Liza dela Fuente-Castaneda.

What did the dance maestras learn from the pandemic?

Dr. Halili-Cruz: “Patience, positive perspective, concern for others and eyes on our goal. These are the elements that allowed us to persevere through the challenging experiences of the pandemic. Sharing with others our time and resources in this trying time is fulfilling. It gives you a sense of oneness with the community. As a positive thinker, I believe arts and dance have a good chance of complete recovery. The passage of the Philippine Creative Industries Act can boost the potential of the dance community to have gainful and sustainable jobs. At the later part of 2022 and early 2023, we see the rise in the number of events and festivals in the different parts of the country where dance, theater, music and visual arts have started to be active.”

Halili-Cruz noted that the NCCA in the early stages of the pandemic provided modest financial assistance to 1,029 dancers, choreographers, directors. From her own personal resources, she was able to reach out to about 250 dance artists.

National Artist Alice Reyes keeps a very positive outlook for dance with many theaters now open like the Samsung Theater, Solaire Theater and others. “Although I can’t help but wish these theaters were able to provide venue grants to artistic companies for the use of their facilities.”

Reyes is also hopeful the Creative Industry Act (Republic Act No. 11904) authored by Representatives Toff de Venecia and Francisco Benitez can do a lot for people in the performing arts. “I notice more and more mayors and governors are putting cultural activities on their local government plans with budgets.

Vella Damian remains optimistic: “It is not easy to kill passion. Ballet schools and dancers were hit very hard, but I believe passion for dance will remain.”

All throughout the pandemic, Locsin learned to cope. “My teaching load has lessened and lessened. I have long wanted to retire but the school (LDW) still needs me, the school is turning 80 years old in 2027. In four years, I will think of retirement seriously.”

She is optimistic dance will thrive for the schools at least. “Our enrollment this summer has gone up! We have to turn down some enrollees. The change in the academic school year has also affected the summer enrollment. Hopefully, it will be better next year. The recitals feature mostly Filipino original dance narratives for children.”

For now, she is keen on preserving Filipino-inspired dances as she has always done. “No national title (National Artist for Dance) is needed to do what I have been doing and will keep on doing. Dance is my life.”

(The Halili-Cruz School of Dance presents DIVERSIFIERA with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philippine Madrigal Singers with OPM as theme on July 30, 2023, 6 p.m. at the Newport Performing Arts Theatre, Newport World Resort.)

The 41st Locsin Summer Showcase 2023 — Ang Sayaw ng Ibong Adarna at Iba Pa — will unfold on July 14, 15, 16, 2023 at the Locsin Dance Lanang, Mamay Road (near Damosa and Nikkei Jin Kai) in Davao City. It will feature all levels of classical ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Modern Dance and Tap.

The ‘Sayaw Tanan’ Visayas Leg of the Cultural Center of the Philippines featuring the Alice Reyes Dance Philippines led by National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes starts in the southern city of Himamaylan and will move to other key cities in Negros island. Her Rama Hari, the highly-acclaimed Filipino rock opera ballet, returns to the stage opening at the Metropolitan Theater on September 15-16, and at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater, September 22-23, 2023.)

CCP- MET OPERA TIE UP RESUMES WITH MAGIC FLUTE JULY 11

Opera News
CCP- MET OPERA TIE UP RESUMES WITH MAGIC FLUTE JULY 11
by Pablo Tariman

Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Magic Flute) — seen live at the CCP in the early 80s under Sarah Caldwell — is the next offering of the CCP-Met tie up with the 2023 Met staging of English director Simon McBurney on Tuesday, July 11.

McBurney took a more modern approach to the classic adventure of Prince Tamino and Papageno to find Pamina, the daughter of the Queen of the Night.

Erin Morley as Pamina in Magic Flute.

In his Met debut staging, McBurney lets loose a volley of theatrical flourishes, incorporating projections, sound effects, and acrobatics to match the spectacle and drama of Mozart’s fable.

In the early 80s staging at the CCP, Tamino was tenor Noel Velasco with the Pamina of Lilia Reyes and Jovita Castro.

Another distinguished Tamino is tenor Arthur Espiritu who has sung the part in Germany and Israel.

The brilliant cast includes soprano Erin Morley as Pamina, tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino, baritone Thomas Oliemans in his Met debut as Papageno, soprano Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, and bass Stephen Milling as Sarastro.

Nathalie Stutzmann conducts the Met Orchestra, with the pit raised to make the musicians visible to the audience and allow interaction with the cast.

More operas in the series include Don Giovanni on August 1, Verdi’s Falstaff on September 5 and Umberto Giordano’s Fedora on October 3.

Tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino and baritone Thomas Oliemans Papagueno.

Don Giovanni is a dramatic retelling of the story of Don Juan, a lustful womanizer who finds his desires to be the cause of his destruction.

In his major Met debut, Tony Award–winning director Ivo van Hove made a new take on Mozart’s tragicomedy, re-setting the familiar tale of deceit and damnation in an abstract architectural landscape and shining a light into the dark corners of the story and its characters.

Maestro Nathalie Stutzmann made her Met debut in this opera staging, conducting a star-studded cast led by baritone Peter Mattei as a magnetic Don Giovanni, alongside the Leporello of bass-baritone Adam Plachetka. Sopranos Federica Lombardi, Ana María Martínez, and Ying Fang make a superlative trio as Giovanni’s conquests and tenor Ben Bliss is Don Ottavio.

Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, the childhood fairytale we’ve all come to know and love, is coming to the Ayala Cinema on November 7.
A deliciously dark take on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tale, this opera stars Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer as the famous siblings lost in the woods who battle the ravenous Witch, portrayed by tenor Philip Langridge. The Met Orchestra, under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski, performed a folk-inspired score.

The season ends with another Mozart favorite, Cosi Fan Tutte, on December 5.

The production features a cast of breakout young artists – soprano Amanda Majeski, mezzo-soprano Serena Malfi, tenor Ben Bliss, and bass-baritone Adam Plachetka. baritone Christopher Maltman, as the scheming Don Alfonso, and Tony Award–winning actress Kelli O’Hara, who triumphed in her 2014 Met debut in Lehár’s The Merry Widow. David Robertson conducts Mozart’s colorful score.

Director Phelim McDermott and his team of designers have updated the opera’s setting to a boardwalk amusement park inspired by Coney Island in the 1950s.

The Pamina in the early 80s production of Magic Flute; Soprano Lilia Reyes shown here with Pablo Tariman backstage at the CCP after a concert.

Now on its 8th season, the CCP’s The Met: Live in HD series is a special program of the CCP Film, Broadcast, and New Media Division (CCP FBNMD), under the Production and Exhibition Department in partnership with The Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc., and Ayala Malls Cinemas.

The series showcases operatic productions through the High-Definition (HD) digital video technology and Dolby Sound thus recreating the experience of watching live an opera production at the Met.

All screenings are scheduled at 5:30 p.m. at Cinema 1 Greenbelt 3 in Makati City. Tickets are priced at PHP450.00.

Students and young professionals may enjoy the screenings at PHP100.00 upon presentation of valid ID. Tickets are available at Greenbelt ticket booths and the website http://www.sureseats.com.