Fusion of Oriental, European Melodies in "MUSIC WITHOUT BORDERS"

CEBU, Philippines - The Marco Polo Plaza presents the latest edition of its one-of-a-kind signature program Champagne Series—“Music Without Borders”. Tonight, May 21, a fusion of oriental classic and European melodies will fill the hotel’s entire Grand Ballroom for a splendid night of music and friendship across borders.

This one-night only concert will feature internationally-acclaimed Filipino pianist Maestro JIOVANNEY CRUZ with Maestro YING-KUAN HONG and Maestra CHI-YING HUNG from Taiwan.

WORLD-CLASS ARTISTS

Maestro CRUZ, dubbed as the most internationally awarded Filipino concert pianist, has won an unprecedented number of international competitions, scholarships and awards in his 40-year performing career. Maestro Cruz began his piano studies with his mother at age 3, and at age 6, he was invited to perform at Malacañang. At age 10, he made his orchestral debut after winning First Prize in the National Music Competitions for Young Artists. Maestro Cruz received his Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in Piano Performance, and was awarded the coveted Harold Bauer Award — the highest honor given to a Manhattan School of Music graduate. He also holds the honor to be the first and only Filipino to be invited as a Juror in the 1st ASEAN International Chopin Piano Competition in Kuala Lumpur, and twice as an Adjudicator in the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival in its 62 years of existence. He is a pioneer of the renaissance of Classical Music awareness in the Philippines, being the Founder & Artistic Director of OPUSFEST: the International Piano & Chamber Music Festival Philippines. 

Taiwanese bass YING-KUAN HONG, trained on the bel canto style of singing, has performed throughout Taiwan as a soloist as well as a choir member. He was the principle bass singer of the affiliated choir of the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra and was chosen by the committee of the Taiwan Music Festival to sing the leading role in the operas “The Field,” “One Hundredth Bride,” “La Boheme,” and “La Traviata.” Currently, he is the principle bass singer of the Nantou Duo Sheng Choir and conductor of the Nantou Philharmonic Choir.

Maestra CHI-YING HUNG, also a native of Taiwan, studied music with Solomon Mikowsky, Fiorella Canin, and Donn-Alexandre Feder at the Manhattan School of Music where she received the Elva Van Gelder Memorial Scholarship, and “Best Performance of Bach” award. She has won numerous competitions including the MSM Chopin Competition, the Great Neck Young Artists Chamber Music Competition, the finalist of the New York Philharmonic Young Artist Competition, and Associate Music Teachers League’s “Lucy Boyan Balakian Award”. Maestra Hung has performed at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Ethical Culture Society, Lehman College and Taipei Theater in New York, at the National Recital Hall in Taipei, the Tenerife and Lanzarote Music Festivals in the Canary Islands, at the Vila-Seca Festival in Spain, at the Salle Vincent d’Indy in Paris, at the Conservatory Auditoriums of Beijing, Tienjin, and Shanghai in China. 

MUSIC WITHOUT BORDERS

In “Music Without Borders”, father and daughter duo Maestro YING-KUAN HONG and Maestra CHI-YING HUNG will perform a lovely repertoire of folk songs and art songs from China and Taiwan. While Maestro CRUZ will play piano renditions of European classical pieces by Isaac Albeniz, Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin.  

Marco Polo Plaza’s Champagne Series “Music Without Borders” will start 7 PM this Friday, May 21. This concert is for the benefit of the Arts Council of Cebu Foundation, which celebrates its golden anniversary this year.

This event is made possible by the generous support of the Board of Trustees of the Arts Council of Cebu; H.E. Robert Lee, Honorary Consul of Canada and event sponsors Converse, Timex Philippines. Inc., Dash Engineering Phils. Inc., Ng Khai Corp. and Pacific Audio.

For ticket reservations, please call the Marco Polo Plaza at 253 1111 or the Arts Council of Cebu at 2330452.