An intimate musical night at UP Abelardo Hall

MANILA, Philippines - Baritone Noel Azcona, flutist John Raymond Sarreal and pianist Najib Ismail will open the 2013 Music News Intimate Concert Series tonight at 7 at the UP Abelardo Hall in Diliman, Quezon City.

Presently the assistant music director of the multi-awarded UST Singers, Azcona has been a featured soloist of the Las Piñas International Bamboo Organ Festival and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. He was last seen at the Cultural Center of the Philippines main theater in the production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Rossini’s Barber of Seville and at the St. Cecilia’s Hall as Escamillo in the last production of Carmen by Bizet. He has taken part in 10-world concert tours as assistant conductor and soloist of the UST Singers, covering the major cities of Europe, the US, Mexico, Canada and Asia.

Music critic Rosalinda Orosa has written of Azcona and Ismail thus: â€œBaritone Noel Azcona showed the most assurance, flair and aplomb. His voice was lush, intensely powerful and resonant in Mozart’s aria Hai gia vinta la causa, his animated interpretation vividly reflecting the spirit of The Marriage of Figaro… Pianist Najib Ismail, an excellent assisting artist, anticipated every note, every pause unerringly and uncannily.”

Azcona’s program includes Bach’s Bist du bei Mir, Carissimi’s Vittoria mio core, Jacques Ibert’s Four Songs, Liszt’s Benedetto Sia il Giorno, Schoenberg’s Stars (from Les Miserables), Abelardo’s Magbalik Ka Hirang, Mozart’s Hai Gia vinta la causa.. Vedro M’entrio sospiro (from Le nozze di Figaro), Tchaikovsky’s 9. Ja vas lyub lyu (from Pique Dame) and the Toreador Song from Carmen by Bizet.

The same program will be presented at the Kemji Resort Hall in Virac, Catanduanes on April 27,  7 p.m. as part of the 2013 Catanduanes Summer Music Festival.

The concerts are presented by Music News in association with the UP College of Music, Manila Chamber Orchestra Foundation, National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Philipine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

Tickets are priced at P500 and P300. For details, call 576-3132 and 0906-5104270.