Chopin piano fest at The Podium

MANILA, Philippines - In celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Chopin, The Podium pays tribute of this most distinguished Polish composer with The Chopin Piano Festival this month.

A joint project with the UST Conservatory of Music, the festival will feature a series of performances by some of the country’s prominent pianists. The mall will come alive with romantic strains of Chopin on Aug. 21 and 28 with students of the UST Conservatory of Music; Aug. 22 with Rudolf Golez; and Aug. 29 with Ingrid Sala Santamaria with Jonathan Coo. All performances will start at 5 p.m. and are open to the public.

Raul Sunico, one of the Philippines’ finest pianists, has traveled the world as a soloist and played with international orchestras. Currently the Dean of the UST Conservatory of Music and VP and artistic director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, he opened The Chopin Piano Festival at the Podium with wonderful performances of Barcarolle in F-sharp, op.60, Waltz in C-sharp minor, op.64 no.2, Waltz in E-flat, op. 18, Nocturne no 10 in A-flat op. 32 no. 2, Scherzo no. 3 in C-Sharp Minor op. 39. Sunico’s renditions of Chopin’s Etude in F minor Op 10.no, Etude in A-flat, op.25 no1, and Polonaise in A-flat, op.53 drew rave reviews from the mall crowd.

The UST Conservatory of Music, headed by Dean Raul Sunico, has constantly maintained its efforts to be a premiere music school. It is the only school in the country to have an all-student symphony orchestra and an all-student symphonic band. On Aug. 21 and 28, piano majors from this college will perform romantic Chopin classics.

Rudof Golez, the only winner of the First ASEAN Chopin International Competition 2004 in Kuala Lumpur, is praised for his keenness in depth and subtlety. A student of the world-renowned pianist Seymour Lipkin in the Julliard School of Music in New York City, Golez holds a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of the Philippines.

On Aug. 22, Golez will bring a light hearted touch to the festival with dance music plus some romantic strains by Chopin: Mazurka in D Major Opus 33, Black Key Study, Nocturne in E Flat (To Love Again), Tarantelle Op 43, Waltz in C#Minor, Scherzo in B Minor # 1, Fantasie Impromptu, Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise. He will also play Abelardo Nocturne, a Chopin inspired piece, and have encore performances of Polonaise in A Flat Opus 53 — Heroic, Andante Spianato, and Grande Polonaise.

Ingrid Sala Santamaria has had numerous performances — solo, chamber and orchestra — both in the Philippines and abroad. The founding chair of the Cebu Piano Teacher’s Guild and a performer with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra String Quartet since 2003, she trained under Josef Raieff in the Julliard School in New York and was conferred a Doctorate in Music Education Degree by De La Salle University in Manila in 2006.

Jonathan Coo completed his Master’s Degree in Performance and Literature at the Eastman School in the University of Rochester in New York. He beautifully combines words and music as a concert pianist, a cultural writer, and a teacher at the Ateneo de Manila University and St. Paul’s University.

Together, they will perform the grand finale in the Chopin Piano Festival on Aug. 29 with Santamaria playing piano solos of Ballade No 1 in G Minor Op 23, Etude in E Major, Op 10, No 3 (No Other Love), and Ballade No 3 in A Flat Major, Op 47. Santamaria will perform in soloist part, while Coo will take on the orchestra part in Concerto No 1 in e minor, Op 11 in two pianos.

Called the Poet of the Piano, Frederic Chopin is one of the greatest artists in the history of Polish culture, the most distinguished Polish composer, as well as a leading pianist and representative of the music of the Romantic era.