MANILA, Philippines – Art 2 Art pays tribute to Jovita Fuentes, the first female to be named National Artist for Music, in its episode airing today, 3:30 to 4 p.m., on DZRH (666 khz on the AM band). The program can also be viewed simultaneously on RHTV via Cablelink and accessed on the Internet through the website dzrh.tripod.com.
Host Lisa Macuja interviews music writer, critic and arts educator Antonio Hila for this special tribute. Hila gives insights on Fuentes’ remarkable career which included performances in the US, particularly in famed Carnegie Hall, in 1939 and a recording of Philippine folk songs and kundiman under Victor Recording Company. Upon returning to the Philippines, Fuentes became a teacher at the UP Conservatory of Music and other schools. She established the Artists’ Guild of the Philippines that called for Filipino artists to make their own operas.
Fuentes was named National Artist in 1976. She passed away on Aug. 7, 1978.