CEBU, Philippines - Ingrid Sala Santamaria, international concert pianist, is celebrating 50 years of professional performances in 2012. To mark this auspicious occasion, Ingrid Santamaria will have a piano concert on September 7, Friday, at 8PM at the Grand Ballroom of the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel in Cebu City. She will play Piano Concerto No. 1 by Chopin and Piano Concerto No. 1 by Mendelssohn with the PPP Chamber Quartets.
As we all know, Ingrid started her concert in 1962 when she played the Schumann Piano Concerto with the FSYO (Filipino Youth Symphony Orchestra) under Maestro Luis Valencia at the Sta. Isabel College Auditorium. Her piano concerts went on until 2001. Together with her mentor, Prof. Reynaldo Reyes, Ingrid conceptualized a two-piano OUTREACH educational project featuring music from the Romantic Period, 1800-1900. Started with bi-annual concerts in January 2001, Reyes and Santamari have to date logged over 400 such concerts, in their “Romantic Piano Concerto Journey Tour (RPCJT)” project, often bringing their own pianos for the performance, with Ingrid taking the Soloist part and Reyes doing the Orchestra part on the second piano. They have literally covered the length and breadth of the country from Aparri to Zamboanga including key cities in Asia and USA. The 21st project will be on July 7 to August 23, 2012. (FREEMAN)